Man fractured spine when collecting car from garage, court hears
A self-employed garage mechanic has been fined £1800 after a member of the public was seriously injured when he fell into a vehicle inspection pit at a garage. The man sustained two spinal fractures, a slipped disc, a badly sprained ankle and cuts and swelling.
Stevenage Magistrates’ Court heard the injured man’s car was parked in front of a vehicle inspection pit. The garage owner was showing the customer a part fitted under the bonnet when the man attempted to walk around the garage owner and fell into the inspection pit.
The court heard the garage owner had given a verbal warning to the member of the public but he had apparently not heard it.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuting said the garage owner had allowed the member of the public into the garage with an open pit without suitable and sufficient precautions to prevent a fall.
Mr Farhad Mashinchi trading as Gold Star Vehicle Maintenance from Unit 35, Wedgewood Close, Stevenage, Herts, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and was fined £1800 and ordered to pay £881 costs. A £170 victim surcharge was also levied against the company.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Sandra Dias said: “When working in such an environment, with an open inspection pit there is a significant risk of death or serious injury.
“This garage owner relied on verbal warnings and floor markings instead of reasonably practical measures such as covering over the inspection pit or putting a barrier around it which would have prevented this serious fall.”
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Man fractured spine when collecting car from garage, court hears
A self-employed garage mechanic has been fined £1800 after a member of the public was seriously injured when he fell into a
Lauren Applebey
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So another person is injured as a result of a non-compliant cowboy. A vehicle repair business close to where I live has a similar set up i.e. no fall prevention around the MOT inspection area/pit. When I explained to the old chap that runs the business, that he was in breach of this, that and the other. He explained that a health and safety bloke from the local council had told him the same; and went to rant about bl–dy health and safety; and he ain’t going to nothing about it. So here lies at least one problem, a local authority that openly encourages non-compliance. By not having a robust enforcement system in place and by using the Government endorsed phrase ‘relieve business’s and the council from the burden of compliance’ in their enforcement policy. The very same council, Cheshire East, that allowed the Bosley Wood Treatment mill to fester for years. This particular indecent and the sadly repetitive others featured in the In Court section surly point to breakdown in standards. Despite all the IOSH’ers and NEBOSH’ers nothing seems to change. And if and when Britain leaves the EU, the first laws to be revoked will the EU derived workplace absolute duties. I’m semiretired now and most of my work comes from Easter Europe the least I have to do with the British attitude towards management the better. I severed my links with IOSH and the Chartered thing several years ago and I do very nicely without it.