Prosecutions
A 10-year-old equipment fault at a stationery supply firm saw a worker sustain serious injuries after he was caught between a reversing lorry and a loading platform.
The employee suffered a fractured collarbone and forearm in the incident which happened as he was receiving a consignment of paper reels at the premises of his employer.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the company, which supplies commercial stationery products to industry, after an investigation that found a flap connected to a dock leveller had been broken for at least a decade.
Bath Magistrates Court heard that on the day of the incident, April 22 this year, the employee was standing in for the regular storeman and part of his role was to receive deliveries to a raised loading bay. However, the dock leveller - a device used to bridge the gap between the rear of the truck and the loading bay - was not working.
A flap was supposed to automatically rise when the leveller was operated but failed, so the worker instead held the flap up manually. When the vehicle began reversing he became trapped between the back of the trailer and the front of the dock leveller, causing his injuries.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 5(1) and Regulation 8(1) of Provision of Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Regulation 3 (1) Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
The company was ordered to pay £1,500 in fines per breach, plus £500 in compensation to the injured party, and £2,626 costs.
Speaking after the hearing a HSE inspector said:
"In the ten years this equipment had been used by the company it had never worked as intended by the manufacturer. It is astonishing that this company allowed its workers to use equipment which had been broken for so long.
"To compound matters, the regular storeman had been forced to develop a way of working using the faulty equipment, but this was not passed on.
"The firm had a health and safety management system but it failed to address the risks involved with unloading and reversing lorries in the workplace.
"This case demonstrates what can happen when simple safety procedures are ignored."