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Safety and Health Practitioner (SHP) is first for independent health and safety news.
January 23, 2012

Company and supervisor fined for crane fatality

A specialist crane supplier must pay £254,000 in fines and costs after a worker was killed when a steel beam fell from a crane and struck him.

JH Carruthers Ltd had been contracted to install two cranes in the hall of a new incinerator building at a recycling plant in Slough, Berkshire. Colin Dickson was one of a team of five workers who were installing the cranes, when the incident took place on 29 August 2007.

The men were lifting two steel beams to a height of approximately 18 metres, so they could be welded to the underside of the incinerator’s roof beams, which were fixed to the rafters. The beams were lifted vertically by a telehandler and were then moved horizontally by electric hoists, which were fixed to temporary suspension points on the building.

Mr Dickson was stood on a high-level walkway on the outside of the incinerator, when one of the suspension points broke, causing one of the 1.4-tonne beams to fall five metres and land on him. He died at the scene from fatal chest injuries.

The HSE’s investigation found that the lifting process had not been properly planned, or supervised. The project supervisor, John Hamilton, had not created a written method of work and had miscalculated the weight that the bolts securing the suspension points could support.€

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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.

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Bob
Bob
13 years ago

The employer should have invested in training rather than relying on faith placed in Mr Hamilton. Yet again a lack of competence results in loss of life.

LOLER is quite specific about competence to plan and execute safe lifting operations, this firm are crane specialists yet ignored LOLER and then attempted to imply individual failure.

No previous convictions, probably no previous HSE contact?

Even less chance of HSE early intervention now, due to Mr Cameron`s dislike of H & S.