Industry news
Fine after excavator hits M1 bridge
Posted Mon, 30 Jan 2012
A firm has been fined almost £13,000 after health and safety experts found that lack of training was a contributing factor in an accident involving an excavator hitting a bridge on the M1.
The employee of Van Elle Ltd, who wishes to remain nameless, was in a coma for two weeks after being thrown from his seat and hitting his head when the vehicle struck a bridge in roadworks between junctions 25 and 28 in the East Midlands.
A probe into the accident by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the maintenance fitter had receive insufficient training in the use of the machine, and while assessments had been made on his ability to carry out lifting operations at the firm's premises, he had been asked to stand in for somebody at the motorway construction site on the day of the accident.
As a result, the worker had driven through the site with the boom at an unsafe height, Mansfield magistrates heard.
Nottinghamshire firm Van Elle Ltd, of Kirkby Lane, Pinxton, was fined £12,750 with £29,660 costs after admitting breaching Regulation 9(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
Copyright Press Association 2012