Lack of traffic control leaves worker injured

Date:

2 June 2010

Release No:

COILDN/0206

A vehicle hire company, from Hampshire has been fined £5,000 after a worker was hit by a moving vehicle in West London.

Westminster Magistrates' Court heard that on 29 January 2008, a mechanic working for S.H.B Hire Ltd was asked to repair a vehicle at the site in Uxbridge Road, Southall. In order to get the vehicle from the yard he needed to move another parked vehicle, so he reversed a Ford Transit 350 tipper.

At the time Matthew Stevens, 35, from Brentford was cleaning a different vehicle when he saw the reversing tipper coming towards him. He tried to get out of the way, by jumping on the bonnet of vehicle he was cleaning but his legs were hit by the tipper. He suffered bruising and swelling to both his lower legs.

After the incident, an Improvement Notice was served by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) ordering S.H.B Hire to segregate pedestrians and organise the yard area. The notice was complied with and action has been taken to separate the valeting area and a neighbouring school's car park.

S.H.B Hire Ltd, of Premier Way, Romsey, Hampshire, pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,815.

Following the hearing, HSE Inspector, Jack Wilby said:

"S.H.B Hire failed to properly manage the risks and control the movement of its vehicles at its Southall site - ultimately leading to a worker becoming injured.

"While the injuries in this case were minor, the poor conditions of the yard and the failure to adequately manage the risks could have easily resulted in a more serious injury.

"Companies must ensure they take these risks seriously as every year around 50 people are killed in accidents involving workplace transport and there are over 1,900 major injuries."

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk
2. 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."
3. Further information on safe workplace transport can be found on our website at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/workplacetransport/index.htm

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