Freuhauf fined after worker killed in fall from height

Truck body builder fined £200,000 after employee sustains fatal injuries in a fall from a cherry picker

TIPPING trailer and rigid body manufacturers Fruehauf Ltd have been fined £200,000 after an employee sustained fatal injuries after falling from a cherry picker at the company’s factory in Grantham.

Lincoln Magistrates’ Court heard how, on 18 February 2016, the 64-year old worker fell while climbing from the basket of a cherry picker on to an overhead travelling crane to repair it.

The court heard that the work was not properly planned and was carried out without suitable harnesses and fall-arrest equipment.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Fruehauf failed to provide and enforce a safe system of work for accessing the overhead cranes in the factory.

The company did not have appropriate management arrangements in place for controlling, monitoring and reviewing the safety of maintenance tasks, and the activity was not properly risk assessed.

Fruehauf Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and Regulations 3(1) and 5(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, and were fined £200,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,622.

Speaking after the hearing, HM Inspector Martin Giles said: ‘Those in control of work have a responsibility to devise safe methods of working and to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to their workers in the safe system of working.

‘This incident could have been prevented had Fruehauf Ltd provided appropriate supervision and suitable fall-arrest equipment for their workers to wear and use.’