The employee suffered severe injuries, including a fractured pelvis, as a result of the incident at the Chadwell St Mary branch and had to be rushed to hospital.
Thurrock Council’s Health and Safety and Legal teams brought the action because the roll cage, which is used to deliver goods to shops, should only ever be moved by two people. Tesco had a previous health and safety conviction for allowing a lone worker to move a cage at their branch in Waverley.
Tesco pleaded guilty to a charge under section two of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Cllr Rob Gledhill, Leader of Thurrock Council commented: “It is vital that workers are properly protected and safe when they are doing their jobs. We will always take action to ensure that proper standards are maintained by the borough’s employers.
“The size of the fine should serve as a deterrent and a signal to employers that we take the health and safety or our residents and others who work in Thurrock very seriously.”
Tesco was also ordered to pay £18,118 in costs to Thurrock Council and a victim surcharge of £120.
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Tesco again. They are still not being hit hard enough!
What was the size of this cage?
Where is the legislation that states roll cages should only ever be moved by two people?
It’s in this HSE document (http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr009.pdf). “In general, we would expect a risk assessment to be carried out where roll containers need to be manually handled on slopes and that two operators would be needed to reduce manual handling forces within acceptable limits.”
I think the exact circumstances of the incident need more clarification. The original reporting suggests the roll cage fell out of the trailer, in which case the injured party is very fortunate, and it is most likely that this was a kerbside delivery using a tail lift. If that is the case, there wouldn’t be any slopes, and therefore no requirement for two operators to handle the cage. That said, the presentation of Tesco cages generally is very bad.