Company dismantling HGV fined for safety failings
Firm fined £53,300 after unsafe working practices leave employee with permanent head injuries
A NORTH Lincolnshire company has been fined after a worker was injured whilst dismantling an HGV tipper lorry. Scunthorpe Magistrates’ Court heard how, in April 2015, two employees of R. Martinson Ltd were dismantling the lorry using a telehandler like a mobile crane for lifting operations.
One of the employees was using the telehandler to remove a metal rail weighing about 44kg from the chassis when it struck the second employee, who suffered a traumatic skull fracture that has left him with permanent injuries and reliant on family members for his care.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the company had failed to adequately plan, organize, control and monitor the way in which the operation was undertaken.
It said using a telehandler to lift and move parts like a mobile crane is a high-risk activity and the company failed to apply basic principles of health and safety management to reduce the risk of serious personal injury.
R. Martinson Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and were fined £53,300 and ordered to pay costs of £1,293.
