A gardener’s big toe was severed by a hover mower at a Devon hotel, which did not carry out a risk assessment of gardening work or provide any safety footwear for such work.
A gardener’s big toe was severed by a hover mower at a Devon hotel, which did not carry out a risk assessment of gardening work or provide any safety footwear for such work.
Caparo Hotels pleaded guilty to contravening s2(1) of HSWA by not ensuring the safety of its employees. It was fined £4000 and ordered to pay £3848 in Torbay Council’s full costs by South Devon magistrates, sitting at Totnes Court on 2 June.
The court heard that on 3 September 2004, gardener John Giles had been mowing the grass in the grounds of the Osborne Hotel in Torquay using a hover mower. While he was mowing a steep bank he slipped down the bank into the mower’s blades, which severed his big toe.
Caparo Hotels said in mitigation that it had carried out risk assessments for other areas within the hotel but not for the gardening operation. It had a good safety record and had put in an early guilty plea.
Helen Perkins, principal environmental health officer at Torbay Council, told SHP: “Torbay Council works closely with all its many businesses to ensure a high level of health and safety is maintained. On this occasion it was felt that formal action was necessary due to the serious nature of the incident. I hope this case highlights the risks posed to employees by the lack of adequate personal protective equipment and by not completing a full and adequate risk assessment for all hazardous activities in the
business.”
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