Surrey company convicted after worker severely injured by falling MDF

Date:

5 February 2010

Release No:

COISE/0502

A Surrey woodworking company has been given a conditional discharge after a worker was seriously injured by large falling MDF boards.

At North West Surrey Magistrates in Woking on Friday 5 February 2010, the Court heard the incident took place on 17 May 2008 at Thistle Woodworks Limited's site in Lightwater, Surrey.

A stack of MDF (medium density fibreboard) panels, which were more than two metres long and over a metre wide were stacked vertically against a closed door to the workshop. A number of these boards fell on top of one of the employees, who as a result, suffered fractures to the left side of his forehead, his eye socket, cheek bone and left arm.

Thistle Woodworks Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 10(4) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. In court, the company was given a conditional discharge of three months and ordered to pay costs of £1,544.40.

HSE Inspector Suzanne Matthews said:

"This method of stacking boards was inherently unsafe and injuries were inevitable if the stack was disturbed. This company failed its employee, who suffered several severe fractures as a result.

"Boards should never be stacked on their edge without adequate support. They should be stored flat, or in a 'pigeonhole' or 'toast rack' arrangement with staff clearly told about the dangers of propping boards with inadequate support."

Visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/woodindx.htm for general safety information about woodworking and http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/wis2.pdf for specific tips on stacking timber and boards.

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It works to prevent death, injury and ill-health to those at work and those affected by work activities. For more information about the work of HSE, visit www.hse.gov.uk
2. Regulation 10 (4) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 states: Every employer shall ensure that materials and objects are stored in such a way as to prevent risk to any person arising from the collapse, overturning or unintended movement of such materials or objects.

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