£200k fine following fall death

A Grantham business has been fined £200,000 for breaching of health and safety regulations, which saw an employee die in a fall from a cherry picker.

Colin Sale, 64, died in the incident on 18 February 2016.

In a case brought by the Health and Safety Executive, Fruehauf Ltd, based in Houghton Road, Grantham, appeared at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court, where three offences were admitted.

The tipper trailer manufacturer admitted failing to:

• provide and maintain a safe working system as employees, including Mr Sale, repaired a Morris 10 tonne crane
• make a suitable and sufficient assessment of health and safety risks to employees
• make arrangements for the effective control, monitoring and review of preventative and protective health and safety measures of employees engaged in maintenance tasks.

Devise safe methods

Fruehauf Limited pleaded guilty to being in breach of Regulation 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and Regulations 3(1) and 5(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The company was fined £200,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,622.05 and a £170 victim surcharge.

Speaking after the hearing, HM Inspector Martin Giles said: “Those in control of work have a responsibility to devise safe methods of working and to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to their workers in the safe system of working.

“This incident could have been prevented had Fruehauf Ltd provided appropriate supervision and suitable fall-arrest equipment for their workers to wear and use.”

Approaches to managing the risks associated Musculoskeletal disorders

In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, we hear from Matt Birtles, Principal Ergonomics Consultant at HSE’s Science and Research Centre, about the different approaches to managing the risks associated with Musculoskeletal disorders.

Matt, an ergonomics and human factors expert, shares his thoughts on why MSDs are important, the various prevalent rates across the UK, what you can do within your own organisation and the Risk Management process surrounding MSD’s.

Listen now!