A manufacturing firm has been slapped with a hefty fine after a worker was injured when they fell from the top of a machine. The man, a contractor for Stockport-based Manufax Engineering Limited, was left with a fractured right elbow, two fractured ribs and two pelvis fractures after plunging nearly four metres.
Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard that the worker was carrying out a maintenance task on top of the machine at the time of the incident on July 30, 2020. The Correa machine had an access gantry to reach the top and the task meant the man had to step outside the gantry to reach a particular part of the machine.
When he did so, he lost his balance and fell. He tried to grab the top of the machine but failed and fell 3.9 metres.
READ MORE: Prisoner squirted officers with bottle of urine in ‘foul and odious attack’
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the company had no safe system of work for the task that was being carried out, there was a lack of supervision and no formal monitoring system in place to ensure that employees and contractors were working safely on site. The task was not planned, supervised, or carried out in a safe manner, investigators ruled.
Manufax Engineering Limited of Cromer Street, Stockport, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £26,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,205.42.
Following the hearing on Tuesday (June 7), HSE inspector Stephanie Simcock said: “This incident could so easily have been avoided by simply carrying out correct control measures and safe working practices. Falls from height remain one of the most common causes of work-related injury and fatality in this country and the risks associated with working at height are well known.”
For all the latest World News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
