Personal Injury Solicitors

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted two haulage companies after a driver was paralysed in a work accident.

The unnamed 51-year-old driver from St Ives in Cambridgeshire was crushed while closing the rear doors of his lorry, after another lorry driver reversed and crushed him between the two vehicles.

The accident happened at a transport yard in Tyne Lane, Sandy in Bedfordshire, which at the time of the accident was being rented by the injured driver’s employers, H & M Distribution Ltd.

The driver lost suffered life-changing injuries including paralysis from the chest down and a brain injury which has affected his sight. He has lost most of the use of his arms and is unlikely to be able to return to work again.

The HSE prosecuted H & M Distribution Ltd and HE Payne Transport Ltd – the owners of the yard – after an investigation revealed that, before setting out on a delivery, the driver had pulled his loaded HGV forward of the loading bay, so he could close the rear doors.

As he was doing so, however, a curtain-sided lorry reversed alongside the bay into the area he was working in, crushing him between the two vehicles.

Despite both companies being road hauliers, there was no documented procedure for vehicle movements in the transport yard, the HSE found.

An Improvement Notice was served on both companies requiring them to organise movements in the yard so pedestrians and vehicles could circulate in a safe manner, which was complied with.

On Wednesday (29/07/14), H & M Distribution Ltd of the Sankey Valley Industrial Estate in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside was fined a total of £150,000 and ordered to pay costs of £13,996, after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

HE Payne Transport Ltd of The Lane in Wyboston, Bedfordshire, was fined a total of £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £13,996 after pleading guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Emma Rowlands said:

“Our investigation found that there was no documented procedure which allowed workplace transport and pedestrians to circulate the site in safety – and a dangerous lack of segregation between vehicles and workers on foot.

“This was a horrific and entirely preventable injury caused by the shared failure of both companies to recognise the hazards arising from loading operations at the transport yard – and their duty to protect the people working there.

“Tragically, as a result, an employee is now paralysed for life.”

Duncan Lewis Personal Injury Solicitors – Professional Drivers Injured at Work

Duncan Lewis is a leading firm of personal injury solicitors and can advise those who drive in the course of their work on how to make a no win no fee claim for compensation if they suffer injury as a result of employee negligence or the negligence of another party.

Duncan Lewis can handle Road Traffic Accidents claims for Professional Drivers Injured at Work relating to:

• Bike Couriers injured at work
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Personal injury claimants usually have three years in which to make a claim for compensation, including claims involving Head Injury, Brain Injury, Spinal Injury, Amputation, Paralysis, Fractures, Crush Injuries, Back Injuries and Fatal Injury Claims.

For expert legal advice on no win no fee compensation claims for Professional Drivers Injured at Work, contact Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors on 020 7923 4020.