The Health and Safety Executive has said a Portsmouth steel manufacturing firm failed to put simple safety measures in place after a worker was crushed by a 1.4 tonne beam.
Conder Allslade Ltd was fined £16,000 for safety failings which saw a unnamed 64 year-old man sustain injuries including a broken knee, fractured skull and two crushed discs in his back.
After the sentencing, HSE Inspector Craig Varian said: “The painful and debilitating consequences of these dreadful injuries will be with this man for the rest of his life.
The beam with the trolley it was resting on before it fell‘Risk assessment’
“The term ‘risk assessment’ is often lambasted as a technicality or part of a tick-box exercise. However, the true meaning of the term and its importance are very starkly demonstrated in this case.”
Mr Varian said the “incident could have been avoided” had Conder Allslade undertaken a risk assessment and then taken the action necessary to mitigate the risks.
“In this case”, he added, “inexpensive and easy-to-implement solutions were available and the company did put measures in place after the incident. Sadly that was too late to prevent an individual needlessly suffering multiple injuries.”
The victim, who spent a month in hospital after the accident at the firm’s premises on 10 June 2011, is still undergoing treatment.
“Deep regret”
Conder Allslade Ltd was fined a total of £16,000 and ordered to pay £5,074 in costs after admitting to single breaches of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
Conder Allslade Ltd managing director, Mike Hunter, told the BBC: “We deeply regret the incident and the injuries sustained by our employee, who was one of the company’s best liked men.”
Mr Hunter underscored that the firm had made efforts to risk assess the work in consultation with external health and safety consultants.
