A manufacturing firm and its director have been fined after two teenage agency workers fell from a poorly designed lifting platform.
On 6 April 2009, Leon Payne, 18, and another agency worker of the same age, who wishes to remain anonymous, were helping to scrap shopping trolleys at Storetec Ltd’s depot on the Sawpit Lane Industrial Estate in Tibshelf, Derbyshire.
The teenagers were placing the trolleys in a skip using a metal plate as a makeshift lifting platform, which Storetec director Brian Crossan had designed to be manoeuvred by a forklift truck. As the forklift was lowering the platform, it got caught on either the lip of the skip, or a protruding trolley, and the platform was dragged off the truck’s forks. The workers and the platform fell four and a half metres to the ground.
Mr Payne suffered fractures to his back, while his colleague broke both his heels and needed pins and a metal plate inserted in his feet. Both workers were unable to return to work for a number of weeks owing to their injuries.
The HSE’s investigation found that the company had neglected to assess the dangers of working at height in relation to this task. It issued a Prohibition Notice to the company to stop it using an identical plate as a lifting platform.€
The Safety Conversation with SHP (previously the Safety and Health Podcast) aims to bring you the latest news, insights and legislation updates in the form of interviews, discussions and panel debates from leading figures within the profession.
Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts, subscribe and join the conversation today!
He designed a platform with out any edge protection or harneses to be seen. why didnt the company just hire a tipper skip it would of stopped any person working at height. or any injuries that these to poor lads copped for just trying to do a days work ?