A commercial vehicle repair centre in Kettering has been fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £25,000 costs after an employee was crushed to death underneath a 24-tonne lorry.
FW Abbott Ltd pleaded guilty at Northampton Crown Court today (2 December) to health and safety breaches which led to the death of Martin John Carswell, 47, of Wellingborough. Mr Carswell was working underneath a 24-tonne road drain cleaning vehicle when the equipment supporting it collapsed. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) successfully prosecuted the company, of Pytchley Road, Kettering.
The employer breached section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 for failing to train employees in a safe system of work for raising and working beneath vehicles.
The court was told that there were no health and safety systems in place to ensure that employees followed safe practices.
On 9 June 2007 Mr Carswell was carrying out repairs to a four-axle, eight-wheel lorry. He used four hydraulic lifts to raise the vehicle up to around six feet but instead of putting them on the front and fourth axles as is common practice, he put them on the front and third axle. After raising the lorry, it is thought that Mr Carswell wanted to rotate the wheels on the third axle so he placed a single tall axle stand under the middle fourth axle.
He then lowered the lifts so that the wheels on the third axle were able to rotate. It appears that as he went to adjust the brakes of the third axle, the vehicle wobbled and the axle stand collapsed. As it fell, the rear of the vehicle bounced into the hydraulic lifts, knocking them away from the wheels, allowing the lorry to fall on to Mr Carswell.
The court heard that there were two axle stands available, but Mr Carswell had only used one. Each stand had a safe working load of 7.5 tonnes which, if used together, would have been adequate to support the rear of the vehicle, but the single stand used would have been massively overloaded.
HSE inspector Neil Craig said:
"This is an unfortunate and tragic incident. Martin Carswell was an experienced mechanic who had used this equipment on numerous occasions. We will never know why, on that day, he chose to support the rear of this vehicle on a single axle stand.
"However, as this incident has shown, raising and working beneath these heavy vehicles can be very dangerous and the company should have completed a proper risk assessment and trained their employees in a safe system of work. Had they done so, Mr Carswell might have been more diligent in the way he went about raising and supporting this vehicle and this incident is far less likely to have occurred.
"I would urge all employers who use these lifts and supports on large vehicles to ensure their employees understand the risks involved and the measures to protect against them."
Regional reporters should call the appropriate Regional News Network press office.
Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by COI News and PR East Midlands
Regional reporters should call the appropriate Regional News Network press office who act as HSE's Press Office throughout Great Britain.
Social media
Javascript is required to use HSE website social media functionality.
Follow HSE on Twitter:
Follow @H_S_E