WM/406/08 9th December, 2008

HSE warns of dangers after man loses part of his leg

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning construction companies to ensure they provide safe systems of work after part of a man’s leg was amputated when a tipper truck fell onto him, trapping him against a pile of brick rubble.

M.J.Curle Ltd, of Naird Lane, Shifnal, was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,500 at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Friday 5th December 2008, after pleading guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Principal site contractor Anthony Wilson Homes Ltd, of Park Street, Shifnal, pleaded guilty, at an earlier hearing, to breaching sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The court imposed a fine of £25,000 with costs of £10,000 on Anthony Wilson Homes Ltd for its greater responsibility for the lack of site safety and heard that the company had gone into liquidation.

The HSE investigation commenced after an incident on 24th May 2005, when a tipper truck carrying ‘tar-covered road-rubble’ on the Jerningham Arms site in Park Street, toppled onto its side trapping a workman by his foot, necessitating amputation of part of his left leg.

HSE inspector Katharine Walker said:

"All employers have a responsibility to ensure that safe working practices are in place and that suitable risk assessments are undertaken because failure to do so could cost lives, as well as result in enforcement action from HSE. In this instance a man lost part of a limb and his life has been dramatically affected because of these failings."

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees."
2. Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety".
3. Regulation 3(1) (a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work regulations 1999 places onus on the employer to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of employees whilst they are at work – in this case -in relation to the management of transport on the site.
4. The maximum penalty, in a lower court, for breaching each of these sections is a fine not exceeding £20,000.
5. Information about construction safety can be found at the HSE website at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/index.htm
6. HSE statistics highlight transport as the second biggest cause of work-related deaths, after falls from height. More guidance and advice is available at http://www.hse.gov.uk/workplacetransport/index.htm

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