A construction firm has been sentenced after a worker was injured when a 10 tonne dumper truck he was driving over-turned and landed in an open excavation.
Peterborough Magistrates’ Court heard that Turner Construction (Midlands) Ltd had:
• failed to put in place measures such as stop blocks to prevent vehicles from falling into the excavation
• failed to plan and implement a safe system of work
• inadequately trained the dumper truck driver.
The driver of the truck sustained crush injuries to his wrist.
Prosecuting, the HSE said the incident could have easily been avoided by putting simple safety measures in place.
Turner Construction (Midlands) Ltd of Penkridge, Stafford admitted a breach of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, Regulation 13(2) and Regulation 9 (1) of Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
The firm was fined £7,000 for each charge (£14,000 total) and ordered to pay full prosecution costs of £1,607.
After the hearing, Samantha Wells the HSE inspector who investigated and prosecuted this case, said: “Accidents can be prevented by ensuring construction work is planned, managed and monitored in a way that ensures it is carried out safely from the start, including for example the use of stop blocks at the edge of excavations”.
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