A wood waste company has been sentenced for safety breaches after a worker was killed when he fell four metres from a walking floor trailer in South Yorkshire while manually un-sheeting the unit.Paul Littlewood died from his injuries following the incident at R Plevin & Sons’ site in Hazlehead.
The trailer access to the work platform located at the front was protected by a single manually fastened wire rope. The rope is normally fastened to a vertical post with a carabiner. At the time of the incident, which took place on 30 June 2014, the wire rope was hanging loose and the access point was unprotected.
Sheffield Crown Court was told that R Plevin & Sons Ltd had not carried out a suitable and sufficient assessment for sheeting and un-sheeting trailers. No automatic sheeting was used and the protection provided was inadequate to protect workers from the risk of falls. The HSE prosecuted the firm over the incident.
R Plevin & Sons Ltd of Cheshire Street Mossley Ashton Under Lyne Lancashire pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Regulation 3 (1) of the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The company was fined £216,000 and ordered to pay costs of £31,266.54.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Tim Johnson commented: “The incident could have easily been prevented by providing either automatic sheeting or self-closing gates similar to those at the access point on Mobile Elevated Work Platforms, coupled with a double guard rail along the length of the work platform.
“It is a requirement to carry out suitable planning for significant risks such as working at height. The sheeting and un-sheeting of lorry trailers is clearly working at height and the company should have identified the risks and control measures necessary to prevent this fatal accident.”
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Alison,
It does not apply in this story, however often in reading some cases I have a query about the what was the specific failing of the offending party found guilty of breach of H&S law awhat the recommended practice guidence would be in that instance.
Can you help out with this kind of feedback.
Terry