Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates Court heard how, on 2nd February 2016, an employee at Instrument & Control Services Ltd was injured when a top heavy 650-750kg electrical control panel fell while he was trying to move it. It trapped him to the ground, splitting the left and right side of his lower pelvis apart.
An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that Instrument & Control Services Ltd, which provides electrical engineering and refurbishment services, failed to properly assess the risks involved and to provide both a safe system of work and the proper instructions and training needed for moving the panel.
Instrument & Control Services Ltd of Canal Lane, Stoke-on-Trent pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It was fined £60,000 and was ordered to pay costs of £2,923.62 plus a victim surcharge of £120.
HSE inspector Marie-Louise Riley-Roberts said after the hearing: “Those in control of work have a responsibility to assess risk and to devise safe methods of working which their employees should then be trained in.
“If Instrument & Control Services Ltd had ensured that their employees were following to a safe system of work, based upon proper planning, then the life changing injuries sustained by this worker could have been prevented.”
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
