06/07/2010 - Farm company fined over worker fall
A farm company based in the East Riding of Yorkshire has been fined after a worker fell three metres from an unsafe grain bucket.
The worker, who did not wish to be named, was clearing guttering on a farm building at Bainton Heights Farm in May 2008 when the incident occurred.
He had initially started off using a ladder, but switched to a telehandler later in order to access a hard to reach section of the guttering.
A colleague operating the machine attached the grain bucket, but as it was being raised it was inadvertently tilted downwards, causing the 57-year-old worker to fall.
He dislocated his ankle, fractured his shin and partially fractured his heel in the fall, and spent more than a month in hospital.
Following a Health and Safety Executive investigation, the man's employer was fined £3,000 for misusing the telehandler.
It was found that the guardrail attached to the front of the bucket was useless, and allowed the man to fall through an open space. The investigation concluded the telehandler and bucket should never have been used as a lifting platform.
Copyright © Press Association 2010
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