Electrical firm fined £60,000 after worker crushed

Instrument and Control Services Ltd prosecuted after employee suffers serious crush injuries

ELECTRICAL engineering contractors Instrument and Control Services Ltd (ICS) have been fined £60,000 after an employee suffered serious crush injuries.

Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates Court heard how, on 2 February 2016, an employee at ICS was injured when a top-heavy 700kg electrical control panel that he was moving fell over, trapping him on the ground. He suffered life-changing injuries including a fracture that split his lower pelvis in two.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Stoke-on-Trent-based ICS, who provide electrical engineering and refurbishment services, failed to properly assess the risks involved and to provide both a safe system of work and the proper instructions and training needed for moving the panel.

Instrument and Control Services Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2923.62 plus a victim surcharge of £120.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Marie-Louise Riley-Roberts said: ‘Those in control of work have a responsibility to assess risk and to devise safe methods of working which their employees should then be trained in.

‘If Instrument and Control Services Ltd had ensured that their employees were following a safe system of work, based upon proper planning, then the life-changing injuries sustained by this worker could have been prevented.’