12/04/2010 - Employee breaks back after fall
A worker broke his spine in two places and suffered head injuries after falling three metres when a guard-rail gave way.
AB Waste Management was fined £12,000 following an investigation into the incident by the Health and Safety Executive.
The company admitted breaking Regulation 5 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, and was told to meet court costs of £1,836.
The worker narrowly missed a crushing machine when he fell.
He had been cleaning the crushing machine when the guard rail gave way and he fell almost three metres to the ground, Wallsall & Aldridge Magistrates' Court heard.
The man was on his second day of working at Junction Works, Cemetery Road, Darlaston when the incident happened. The victim's spine was broken in two places, and he also suffered several deep cuts to his head that required skin grafts.
Following the case HSE Inspector, Gardabil Singh Tiwana, said: "The worker was seriously let down by his employers who failed to maintain the safety measures that were supposed to protect him. The employee could easily have been killed if he'd fallen into the crushing machine when it was in operation."
Copyright © Press Association 2010
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