A factory worker suffered permanent spinal damage when a steel beam fell and trapped him against a skip during a poorly planned lifting operation.
Mark Priestley, 34, was working as a steel fabricator at Elland Steel Structures Ltd’s factory in Halifax, when the incident took place on 31 January 2011.
He was working with a colleague to weld pin connections to a 23-metre-long steel beam, which weighed 6.5 tonnes. The beam formed part of a framework for a steel building structure, which was being created for a university.
In order to carry out the welding, the beam had to be rotated several, which required it to be lifted using chain slings. After one of the rotations, the chain was unhooked from the overhead crane and became snagged underneath the beam.
Mr Priestley reconnected the hook to the crane in order to free the chain, but as it was lifted, it caught the beam, which became unstable and toppled sideways. The beam landed on Mr Priestley’s back and pinned him against a skip.
He suffered a crushed spine and torso, leaving him with irreversible spinal and nerve damage. He spent five months in hospital and has subsequently regained limited movement in his legs, but he is now largely confined to a wheelchair.
The HSE investigated the incident and found Mr Priestley had only received basic slinging and lifting training. Also, the work hadn’t been properly planned, or supervised.
On 8 February 2011, the HSE issued an Improvement Notice to the company, requiring it to carry out a risk assessment for the lifting operation.
HSE inspector Geoff Fletcher said: “The incident could have been avoided had Elland Steel fulfilled its responsibilities to fully assess the risks involved with this heavy lifting, and then put measures in place to mitigate those risks.
“Lifting operations need to be properly planned by a competent person and all staff need to be trained and adequately supervised. The lack of a robust system of work will inevitably mean that risk is not properly controlled and the consequences can be devastating.”
Elland Steel Structures appeared at Bradford Crown Court on 14 February and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974. It was fined £8000 and ordered to pay £20,000 towards costs.
In mitigation, the firm said it has subsequently carried out a full risk assessment, which has resulted in it implementing a new system of work. It has sent employees on refresher training for lifting and slinging, and has also created written instructions on how to free chains when they become trapped.
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Another example of regulatory compliance being totally ignored, yet the prosecution is defered to a Section 2 offence.
The HSE then refer specifically to LOLER, yet no effort was made to convict for the obvious failure to observe the requirements of numerous LOLER regulations?
The often adopted default to Sect 2 and 3 convictions fails to address the underlying specifc failure repeatedly?
The failure of a duty of care really does not fully address the complicity of failure noted herein.