Company fined after serious accident at work

Date:

19 March 2009

Release No:

COI/SE/0303

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) today urged employers to make sure staff were trained and had the right equipment available to them.

The call follows the prosecution of a construction company after an employee was involved in an incident where a dumper truck he was driving overturned.

Following an investigation by the HSE, A. Carpenter & Sons (Builders) Ltd based in Shanklin, Isle of Wight, pleaded guilty to contravening section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £7,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,728.50 at Newport Magistrates' Court. They were also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £15.

The investigation follows an incident in Wootton, Isle of Wight on 23 November 2007.

An employee was driving a small skip-loading one-tonne dumper truck when it overturned. He had not been trained to drive a dumper truck and a full risk assessment had not been carried out. The victim suffered sprained ligaments and injuries to his left knee.

Joanna Woodcock, HSE inspector, said: "Dumper trucks are the most dangerous items of plant on construction sites, with overturns resulting in more deaths and serious injuries than any other site vehicle. This particular dumper was a small, narrow skip loader, which are typically less stable and contractors must ensure untrained operators do not use it.

"In this incident an untrained driver, a slippery slope and an awkward route resulted in the dumper overturning. It was a matter of luck than nobody was killed."

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.

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Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by COI News & PR (London & South East).