Paintshop Northern Limited – a company that spray paints HGVs – has been fined for failing to ensure the safety of its workforce after one of its employees sustained a serious fracture to his left leg.
Bradford Magistrates’ Court heard how the worker had been helping a colleague to transport two freshly-painted 370 kg vehicle suspension arms, which were being moved by a forklift truck, when the incident occurred.
Neither chains nor slings had been used to secure the two suspension arms to the forks of the truck for on-site transportation purposes, which was a serious safety failing that could have prevented the incident from occurring.
The worker at the centre of the case was trying to help the truck operator to remove the painted suspension arms off the forks when one fell onto his leg, which resulted in a serious fracture.
HSE inspector David Welsh, who worked on the case, said: “This employee had a serious injury that could have been far worse as a result of this company’s numerous failures.
“The whole operation using the fork lift truck to lift heavy materials in an unconventional way was unsafe from start to finish.
“The load carried needed to be secured to the truck and proper supervision in place to ensure that it was lowered to the ground in a safe way.
“The injury to this worker was entirely preventable.”
Bradford-based Paintshop Northern Limited pleaded guilty to an offence under Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
The company was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive and was fined £4,000, as well as being ordered to pay an additional £991 in costs.