Crushed hand costs company £5000 fine

Published on 09/11/2012 12:00

A CONSTRUCTION supply firm has been fined £5000 following an accident in which a worker had part of his hand crushed. Builders Supply Company pled guilty to a contravention of Health and Safety at Work Act following the incident in April 2010.

The employee, then aged 19, sustained a severe injury while attempting to lift a hopper off the ground using a forklift truck at the firm’s base in Longstone.

He had been driving the forklift and hopper over an uneven area of ground in the yard when the hopper legs swung inwards towards him. As he brought his hands up to protect himself, the left hopper leg struck his left hand, crushing it against the interior roof of the forklift. He was off work for approximately six weeks as a result of this injury and, when he returned, the scope of his duties was restricted.

Lesley Hinds, the city’s environment convener, said: “Cases such as this illustrate just how vital it is for employers to be absolutely scrupulous about keeping their workplaces as safe as possible.”