May 2013 Accidents at Work

Missing safety catch leads to fine for company

A York firm was responsible for safety failings that led to one of its workers suffering multiple and life-changing injuries.

The 58 year-old man, from Rothwell, near Leeds, was felled by a seven-metre sheet pile as he worked at a site in Rother Valley Country Park

Sheffield Crown Court heard that the sheet pile came off the hook of an excavator as it was being lowered because a vital safety catch was missing. As it fell, it struck the worker on his side sending him spinning round to the ground.

The employee suffered multiple injuries, including a fractured skull and pelvis, several snapped ribs and a punctured lung. Both thigh bones were broken and had to be repaired with steel pins. He also sustained fractures to his jaw, cheekbone and left foot. He still needs physiotherapy and rehabilitation to help him walk again.

Coopers Civil Engineering Ltd, of Main Gate, Knapton, York, was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £6,500 in costs for a breach of Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Medani Close said "This employee suffered life-changing injuries because his employer failed to devise a safe system of work for lifting out the sheet piles. The lift should never have been attempted using a hook with a missing safety catch. Lifting operations can often put workers at great risk of injury, as well as incurring great costs when they go wrong. It is therefore important to properly resource, plan and organise lifting work to ensure it is carried out safely."

Don't run the risk. GET TRAINED

Call us for more  information on our courses.

To dowload this is a PDF please click here