Health and safety risk assessment training needed after fracture

A haulage operator was prosecuted in Suffolk courts due to a safety incident with an excavator.  A worker suffered from a skull fracture when he tried to recover the excavator that was abandoned.  The excavator weighed 17 tonnes.  The experienced worker was with Tannington Transport for three months after switching companies.  He was struck in the head when the vehicle jack suddenly came out of position.  The incident happened in September 2011 and because the health and safety audits revealed a clear cut case, the HSE decided to prosecute.

The worker and three other employees were trying to get the excavator that had been abandoned years ago out of the Chelmondiston hedgerow.  It was clear the tonnage would be too much to tow with the handler they had, so the men decided to use bottle jacks with metal sheets under the wheels.  One of the jacks met with a lot of force, popping out of its place and hitting the worker, subsequently creating the skull fracture.  The company he worked for did not provide proper safety measures or a better way to get the machine back.  This is why the court has fined them £6,000 and £3,200 for court costs.

Health and safety risk assessment training for the workers and the overseer of the project would have made it possible to construct a better plan to gain the excavator back without injury.  In fact, any risk assessment would have prevented an incident.