A site manager and workman have been prosecuted for safety failings after an employee was hit by a concrete skip…
Safety failings have prompted the prosecution of a workman and a site manager after an employee was hurt on a construction project.
The case, which was brought before Woolwich Crown Court, revealed that worker Ryan Musgrave was left with serious injuries, including a broken left leg, fractures to his right ankle, and several broken ribs after a concrete skip struck him.
The incident occurred in South London on 23 February 2012 and saw the skip, which weighed 215kg, detach from the excavator. Musgrave was unable to work for 17 months due to his injuries.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found there was no thorough examination certificate for the shackle on the excavator and that the shackle was also defective.
Site manager Christopher Crowley – of Collier Row, London, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 9(1)( a) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998. He received a fine of £1,000, and was ordered to pay costs of £2,500
Self-employed construction worker Michael Kernan pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 8(1) (c) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £1,500. He was also ordered to pay costs of £2,000
Speaking after the case HSE inspector Melvyn Stancliffe said: “Mr Crowley should have taken the shackle on the excavator out of use when he inspected it two days before the incident as he had not seen a thorough examination report for it.
“The law is clear that lifting accessories must not be used unless they have been thoroughly examined in the previous six months and that there is a report available to prove that.
“Mr Kernan, an experienced construction worker, accepted that he did not fully screw in the pin on the shackle as he should have done and as a result it failed.
“Lifting accessories are not complex items but if they are not used properly or are not thoroughly examined periodically then the consequences can be serious. The practice known as ‘backing off’, unwinding the pin by a quarter of a turn, is not safe and shouldn’t be used.
“This case highlights the importance of ensuring simple checks are carried out properly and that equipment is used correctly”.
