Bloom Plant fined after worker injured
Notts demolition firm prosecuted after employee receives serious injuries on his first day on site
A NOTTINGHAMSHIRE demolition company has been fined after a worker suffered severe injuries when he was hit by a falling excavator bucket on his first day on site.
Labourer James Wilson was working for Bloom Plant Ltd on a demolition site in Worksop on 10 January 2011 when the incident occurred.
Excavator driver Paul Batty, who was also employed by Bloom Plant Ltd, was reattaching a four-tonne excavator bucket to the boom of his machine when it fell and slid down a pile of rubble, landing on Mr Wilson and leaving him with major crush injuries.
Mr Wilson lost his left eye and part of his scalp. He also broke his eye socket, cheekbone, jaw, nose, left collarbone, several ribs and his left leg; punctured a lung; and severed the nerves on his bottom lip.
Mr Wilson, who was in a coma for two weeks and had to have a tracheotomy to help him breathe, also needed extensive reconstructive surgery and is still receiving medical treatment, and will continually need to take pain relief.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Bloom Plant had no safe systems of work in place and had not given Mr Wilson adequate information, instruction, training or supervision, including adequate warnings of the hazards involved when working around plant.
Nottingham Crown Court was told that employees should have been excluded from the area while the bucket was being reattached and a safety pin used to secure it in place.
East Markham-based Bloom Plant Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by failing to provide and maintain safe systems of work and to provide adequate information, instruction, training or supervision. The company was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay costs of £27,500.
After the hearing HSE inspector Kevin Wilson said: ‘Mr Wilson suffered appalling injuries and was extremely lucky to survive. Bloom Plant should have provided safe systems of work with better instruction, information, training and supervision, especially as the operations being carried out were known to have serious risks. Instead, Mr Wilson was put in a position of grave danger.’
