Complete Demolition Ltd sentenced over worker injury
Cheshire contractor fined £40,000 following serious crush injuries to employee
HYDE-based Complete Demolition have been fined £40,000 after a worker suffered crushing injuries when he was hit and then run over by an excavator. The company had been contracted to demolish a school site at Stanney Lane, in Ellesmere Port, to make way for a new leisure centre when the incident occurred.
Complete Demolition were prosecuted by The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found the firm’s arrangements to ensure the separation of pedestrians and vehicles were inadequate. There was also insufficient control of workers on the site.
The vehicle incident occurred on 27 November 2013 when the site was being cleared. The driver of a skip wagon was attempting to reverse the skip into an area that had already been occupied by a 40-tonne excavator, which was manoeuvring out of the way. A worker was standing in the same area as the skip wagon and excavator and as the excavator moved it hit the worker knocking him to the ground where its tracks ran over his left foot.
Liverpool Crown Court heard the 45-year-old has been severely affected by his injuries. He has undergone several operations to rebuild his foot, and is still in constant pain and unable to work.
Complete Demolition were fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £7,246 costs after pleading guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.
HSE Inspector Deborah Walker said: ‘This was an entirely foreseeable incident which could have been avoided. The company failed to properly plan for the duration of the works putting pedestrians at risk.’
