A company in Cornwall has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after a worker sustained serious injuries in a tractor accident at work.
The employee Jacob Wingett, 28, from Treburley, near Launceston was fitting a number plate to the cab of a tractor at B&B Agricultural Sales Ltd, when he slipped and fell a metre to the ground sustaining serious injuries. He had been working at the company’s site on the Doublebois Industrial Estate at Dobwalls, near Liskeard when the incident occurred on 1 May 2012.
Mr Wingett broke one wrist and shattered another as well as breaking both arms and sustaining multiple fractures to his skull. He underwent several operations and had steel pins inserted into both arms.
He had been standing on cross shaft arms at the back of the tractor when he fell. The subsequent HSE investigation found that B&B Agricultural Sales Ltd had not provided any measures to prevent Mr Wingett falling – no plan for the work had been drawn up and the company had not implemented a safe system of working. The HSE also found that the company had not given Mr Wingett suitable training or supervision in the task.
B&B Agricultural Sales Ltd of Tamar Ridge, Cox Park, Gunnislake, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
The company was fined £7,000 and ordered to pay £8,142 in costs.
After the hearing HSE inspector Gareth Cottle said:
“Falls from height are the biggest cause of workplace deaths and it’s crucial that employers make sure work is properly planned, appropriately supervised – and that sufficient measures are put in place to protect staff from the risks.
“Mr Wingett’s serious injuries could have been avoided with some simple measures – including planning the work properly, providing proper equipment such as a platform to work on and adequate training and supervision.
“There is no excuse for employers failing to safeguard workers who have to work at height.”
Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 197 states:
“It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.”
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