An engineering firm based in Greenock has pled guilty to charges of failing to ensure the health and safety of its employees, after a worker was crushed by a steel lathe.
The incident occurred in February 2012, when three employees at the company’s factory in Clarence Street, Greenock, were working to relocate the steel lathe. Unfortunately, the lathe toppled over and landed on one of the workers, causing severe crush injuries.
The subsequent investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that there was no risk assessment for the task and the system of work was unsafe. The accident could have been avoided had reasonably practicable precautions been taken.
The company pled guilty at Greenock Sheriff Court to a contravention of Section 2 of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £10,000.
“This was an accident that resulted in severe injury to an employee and which could have been avoided,” commented Gary Aitken, Head of the COPFS Health & Safety Division. “Since this incident the company has introduced new risk assessments and has put into practice safe systems of work.”
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