A transport company in Cheshire has been fined £500,000 after an employee from Hull was crushed between two lorries, suffering horrific injuries.
Last week (16th March), Warwick Crown Court heard that 38-year-old Jennifer Rose broke 13 bones in her back, ribs and shoulders in the incident and also punctured a lung. She was left with severe head injuries, impaired vision and required a tracheotomy and, after also suffering a cardiac arrest, she remained in intensive care for ten days.
The court heard she was lucky to be alive. For four months she needed to wear a body and she was confined to a wheelchair for some months, but has since regained some mobility. However, she still requires physiotherapy weekly.
The incident happened at Nuneaton’s Tip Trailer Services’ Griff Lane depot in April 2013 and an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Mrs Rose, a mother of one, had been acting as a banksman and assisting a lorry driver with a reverse park on a slope. However, the driver decoupled his trailer and didn’t engage its parking brake, resulting in the trailer rolling back and causing the work accident, trapping her between the two vehicles.
TIP Trailer Services were found to have regularly allowed vehicles to park on a slope with no provision of chocks or similar devices. The firm had no monitoring system in place to ensure that drivers were applying their handbrakes properly. The risks extended to passing pedestrians and drivers too, as the slope ended on a public road.
TIP Europe Ltd, trading as Tip Trailer Services and based in Altrincham, Cheshire, pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It was fined £500,000 for the incident along with an additional £56,938 in costs.
If you or a member of your family has suffered an accident at work and you’d like to discuss your legal options, we can help you. Give us a call on 0800 028 2060 or contact us online here.