A tool and plant hire company has been fined £14,000 (with £8199.74 in costs) by Derby Magistrates’ Court because a worker sustained injuries caused by a defective dumper truck it provided to a farmer in August 2013.
JB Tool Hire, which is based in Leicestershire, hired out the truck, and an excavator, to a farmer in Derbyshire.
However, a self-employed contractor who was working with the farmer at the time noticed that the dumper truck started to roll down the slope it was parked on, as it was being loaded from the excavator.
The contractor quickly tried to climb onto the vehicle, in order to apply the footbrake, but the steering column hit the nearby excavator shovel and he trapped his right leg against the driver’s seat.
As a result, the contractor broke his leg, cut his shin and required a skin graft, while a blood clot meant that he was also unable to work for five months following the incident.
After an investigation was carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), JB Tool Hire was discovered to have checked both vehicles prior to providing the farmer with them; however, the company did not identify that the dumper truck’s parking brake was defective and that a new brake cable would have prevented the incident.
Edward Walker, the HSE inspector involved with the case, said: “This was a serious incident where someone was badly hurt.
“The faults with the parking brake should have been identified before it was sent out to a customer.
“Had this been done and the brake cable replaced, the incident would have been prevented.
“Effective maintenance is important to ensure that equipment works reliably and can prevent additional dangers, particular with heavy plant vehicles such as in this case.”
JB Tool Hire Ltd, of Comet Way, Hermitage Industrial Estate, Coalville, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 5(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.