Manchester Council could be landed with a huge fine for failing to ensure the safety of one of its street cleaners.
Paul Rose, 60, was crossing the Princess Parkway on 13 July 2013 when he was hit by a car and sent flying in to the air. He had been picking up litter from the central reservation.
The street cleaner spent three days in intensive care and six weeks in hospital with four cracked ribs, lacerations to his liver, a fractured eye socket, a smashed pelvis and a collapsed lung.
The grandfather from Stretford is still taking medication for the pain and struggles to walk even short distances with the aid of a stick.
Manchester Council has pleaded guilty to breaches under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
HSE prosecutor Emily Osborne told Trafford Magistrates that no warning signs were erected to inform motorists that litter pickers were working on the road and staff complained they weren’t given safety training for operating on the roads.
The court also heard that employees had reported that they had ‘never seen’ a risk assessment carried out in 2012.
Since the incident, the council has introduced warning signs and ‘completely revised’ staff training, the prosecutor told magistrates.
After reading Mr Rose’s statement to the court detailing the devastating impact on his life, chair of the bench Viv Alexander reversed a decision to accept jurisdiction and ruled the maximum £20,000 fine at the court’s disposal was insufficient.
The case has been sent to Minshull Street Crown Court, which can impose an unlimited fine, for sentence on 12 September.
After the hearing, Manchester Council said: “This was a terrible accident in which Mr Rose was hit by a motorist travelling at nearly twice the legal speed limit, who has since been prosecuted for careless driving. He was left with serious long-term injuries and our thoughts remain with him. We are continuing to support him with a view to helping him return to work.
“The City Council’s litter pickers maintain nearly 1,000 miles of roads across the city and this is the first time such an accident has occurred. However, there were lessons to learn from this sad event. We have since worked closely with the Health and Safety Executive to make sure these officers are kept as safe as possible as they go about their work, and to reduce the chance of such an accident happening again.”
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A grandfather who hadn’t apparently has never received safety training for walking on the roads? A Magistrate who wanted to make a personal point? A potential huge fine for a public body (i.e. the tax payer)? Great law! Wonderful!
If they fined the idiot driver £20,000 instead, it would make a better display of justice.
This is perhaps another case where the people who carry out their job are not involved in the risk assessment process. Involving staff makes sure the risk assessment is known and understood.
The council should not be trying to apportion blame to a driver who clearly was exceeding the speed limit. I would hardly think that this was the first time the speed limit had been exceeded.
A risk assessment would clearly pick up on the ‘what if’s’ when working on or near public highways.