A Worcester-based waste and recycling company has been fined £160,000 after a loading shovel bucket fell onto a father of two while he was working.
Blackpole Recycling Limited was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident at its site on Blackpole Trading Estate West in Worcester.
Andrew Taylor, a maintenance worker from Worcester, was fixing a hydraulic leak on the loading shovel when the vehicle’s bucket fell on him.
His crush injuries included fractures to his ribs, leg, foot and pelvis, which was shattered into three pieces. He was airlifted to a hospital and required three operations.
Speaking about the incident, Taylor said prior to the accident, he used to go to the gym and go running, but since the accident, struggled to even climb a flight of stairs.
This incident could and should have been prevented.
The HSE’s investigation found that Blackpole Recycling Limited had failed to undertake a risk assessment for the maintenance activity and had not devised a safe system of work. The company also failed to provide adequate information, instruction and training to Taylor.
Blackpole Recycling Limited was fined £160,000 and ordered to pay £7,049 in costs and a victim’s surcharge of £2,000 at a hearing at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
HSE Inspector Charlie Rowe, who led the investigation, said: “This incident could and should have been prevented. Had a safe system of work been in place, Mr Taylor would not have sustained these serious, life-changing injuries.
“The absence of an appropriate risk assessment, method statement, training and supervision for this maintenance task created a scenario where someone could easily have been killed.”