Steel firm fined after work accident
Personal Injury 13 Apr 2011
A steel firm in Gateshead has been fined after one of its employees suffered a
work injury.
Spartan UK Ltd, of the Teams area of the town, was instructed to pay a fine of £40,000 and £9,757.99 in costs after the firm admitted that it had breached the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 three times.
The company also confessed to one breach of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 at Gateshead Magistrates Court.
On August 28th 2009, there was a
work accident involving Alan Dixon, who was helping a team to do routine maintenance at the company's site. Mr Dixon, 62, was removing large mill rollers when a co-worker accidentally activated a machine, which crushed parts of Mr Dixon.
"The rolls were removed almost every weekend, yet the company failed to assess the risks associated with the process, and failed to provide instructions on how it should be done safely," Health and Safety Executive inspector Jonathan Wills said.
In another court case this month, Fluetech Ltd, of Halifax, was fined £13,500 after a worker fell from a roof.
