Llanelli construction firm fined over worker's injury

Date:

24 February 2012

A Llanelli construction firm has been fined after a worker suffered serious injuries when he was hit by a concrete beam.

The employee, from Carmarthen, was working with a colleague for W A Bowler Ltd on the installation of a beam and block floor at Hillside Care Home in the Uplands area of Swansea on 10 March 2010.

The man, who does not want to be named, was at one end of a 174 kilogram beam, and his co-worker was at the other end. They were using lifting straps to manually hoist the beam into position when the colleague accidentally let go of one end of the beam, causing it to fall downwards and hit the concrete beneath.

The see-saw effect created caused the end of the five-metre long beam he was holding to hit him in the groin and throw him upwards. He suffered a hairline fracture to his pelvis and paralysis to the nerve endings in his left leg.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecutors told Swansea Crown Court W A Bowler Ltd had been contracted by another firm to carry out work at the site.

The court was told that the defendant did not provide suitable equipment for the job to be done safely, which resulted in his employees undertaking potentially dangerous manual handling works.

W A Bowler Limited of Highmead House, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992. It was fined £3, 000 with costs of £4, 847.35.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Hayley Healey said:

"The company neglected its legal duty to take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of their employees.

"Injuries as a result of manual handling are widespread and in this case it was entirely foreseeable that serious injury could occur. The degree of risk here was particularly high in terms of the weight involved.

"The employer failed to provide equipment which would allow the job to be done safely and, as a result, a worker suffered significant injuries in what was a completely preventable incident."

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. Regulation 4 (1)(a) of the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 states that the defendant failed so far as is reasonably practicable, to avoid the need for his employees to undertake any manual handling operations at work which involve a risk of their being injured in relation to the installation of the beam and block floor being carried out on the 10th March 2010.
3. HSE news releases are available at www.hse.gov.uk/press

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