17/01/2011 - Van firm fined £20,000 after fall
A Cardiff-based truck and van company has been fined £20,000 after a worker fractured his hip when he fell from a makeshift platform attached to a fork lift truck.
The 21-year-old HGV mechanic, who wants to remain anonymous, fell 15ft at Fairwood Truck Centre in Rogerstone, Newport, while working for Watts Truck & Van (Cardiff) Ltd.
Newport Magistrates' Court heard that the worker was standing on the makeshift platform - made from a wire surround by a colleague - to repair a light at the top of the fork lift truck on August 27, 2009.
The platform had been screwed to a wooden pallet and placed on the truck, but it had not been securely fixed in place. When the employee leant forward to catch a bulb thrown up to him by a colleague, it fell.
The father-of-one had to have an operation on his hip and was off work for a month, before undergoing a series of physiotherapy sessions since. He still suffers from severe pain in his hip and can no longer go running or boxing.
The HSE investigation found Watts Truck & Van (Cardiff) Ltd failed to ensure that work at height by its employees was properly planned and supervised and carried out safely.
Following this case more van firms could look at their own workforce to make sure they do not replicate the same kind of mistakes and also double check their liability insurance policy to double check what they are responsible for.
The company which is based in Lydney, Gloucestershire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. It was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £3070.70 costs.
Copyright © Press Association 2011
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