29th July 2024

Company Fined After Employee Fractures Skull

What’s Happened?

A company and its director have been fined after an employee was struck by an object while manufacturing large steel cable drums for the offshore industry.

The employee had been working for the business at its Great Yarmouth site which is involved in metal fabrication. Although the company had manufactured steel drums previously – they had never manufactured drums of this size for this particular job – with these ones weighing more than seven tonnes.

During the process, the jacking set-up failed which resulted in a catalogue of serious injuries including fractures to the man’s face and skull, and him losing sight in one eye.

He was airlifted to hospital, placed into an induced coma and spent just under three weeks in hospital, as he needed facial reconstruction surgery.

HSE Investigation

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that the company had failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment; control risks from welding in confined spaces; and to provide the full training required.

The investigation also found that the company director had failed to provide safe systems of work in relation to metal fabrication work, despite previous HSE interventions regarding failure to risk assess activities in the fabrication workshop.

Had the company put in place correct measures, such as suitable risk assessment, safe systems of work and planning for jacking activity, the incident could have been prevented.

In Court

The company appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on 20 June 2024, where they entered a guilty plea to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £24,000 and ordered to pay £3,500 in costs.

The Director also pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. He was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £1,500 in costs.

After the case the HSE inspection involved in the case said ‘Those in control of work have a responsibility to devise safe methods of working and to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to their workers in the safe system of working.

“If a suitable safe system of work had been in place prior to the incident, the life threatening injuries sustained by the employee could have been prevented.”