A LONDON-based construction company has been fined £10,000 after a worker was injured by a mobile platform at the Abbey Trading Centre, on Alvechurch Highway, last year.
The incident, which happened on November 19, left the 31-year-old with a broken leg and facial injuries when the boom type mobile elevated working platform (MEWP), fell from the forks of a tele-handler machine.
Redditch Magistrates’ Court heard that the injured worker, who is from Birmingham, was employed by a groundworks contractor carrying out work for Base Build Services Limited.
The accident happened as the employees were using a telescopic handler to move an MEWP, which had been left in their area of work, to another area of the site when it fell from the forks and hit the employee.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Base Build Services Limited was aware work was due to start in the area where the MEWP was stored and that it would need to be moved before work could continue.
However, no plan or instructions for the removal of the MEWP had been provided.
In addition, the lead labourer was standing by the telescopic handler at the time that the lift was taking place but failed to stop the operation – even though it was clearly unsafe.
The HSE investigation found that the telescopic handler was overloaded and the MEWP was not lifted in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.
Base Build Services Limited, of Abbey Road, pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 22(1)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.
The company was also ordered to pay costs of £1,647.92.
Visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/safetytopics/mewp.htm for information on working with MEWP’s safely.
