JCB has been fined £25,000 after one its workers received serious injuries to his ribs, spine, bladder and kidneys when he was crushed at the firm’s assembly plant in Staffordshire.
The fine was levied on the company by Stafford Magistrates Court on the 14th January after hearing how 56 year old Roger Pearce sustained his injuries while fitting an offside light and mirror arm to a telescopic handler at the plant on 3rd June 2013. To complete the operation, Mr Pearce, from Newcastle-under-Lyme, had to duck down and was crushed by a fellow worker who could not see him while he tested the steering of the machine.
As a result of the accident, Mr Pearce fractured 10 ribs, seriously hurt the base of his spine and damaged both his bladder and kidneys. His injuries were so severe he had to remain in hospital for 10 days and has not returned to work while he still receives treatment.
As well as the £25,000 fine, JC Bamford Excavators Ltd of Lakeside Works, Denstone Road, Rocester was also ordered to pay a further £1,390 in costs for breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at work etc. Act 1974 and Regulation 3(1)(b) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
During the court hearing, magistrates were told by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that the assembly process had been changed for the telescopic handler and the area where Mr Pearce worked was the same as where the live hydraulics and steering were tested. Previously, said the HSE, the two areas were kept separate and Mr Pearce’s task would have been carried out when the other testing was not live. Since the incident JCB has changed it procedures back to prevent similar accidents happening again.
HSE inspector David Brassington said:
“This was a serious incident with Mr Pearce sustaining injuries from which he has yet to recover.
“It was also a preventable incident. JCB had allowed the introduction of a serious hazard and failed to assess the risk from this change. The controls that were in place were inadequate and Mr Pearce suffered serious harm as a result.
“Since the incident, the fitting of the light and mirror arm has been moved back to earlier in the assembly sequence when the hydraulics are not operational. Other changes have included barriers around the assembly area and the introduction of a banksman to control personnel working within it.”
There were 80,000 non-fatal accidents at places of work reported by employers during the period of 2012/2013 according to the HSE’s latest figures published in 2014 which costs the UK economy around 250,000 working days every year. The highest rates of accidents occurred at places with high manual occupational rates and younger and less-experienced workers are more likely to have an accident than more-experienced workers.
If you have been involved in an accident at work, visit our dedicated website www.accidentat-work.com for help and advice. Or you can call us on 0800 028 2060 to speak to one of specialist team.