Safety Helmet Saves Life of Worker
In Cumbria, a maintenance worker at a steel plant was saved, but could have been killed if he had not been wearing his safety helmet. A part of a large 300kg roller shutter door fell on the worker, but because his head was protected by the safety helmet, he was saved from death. The headgear made certain the 51-year-old worker was going home to his family. A colleague and he were sent to the plant to repair the door. The door had been hit by a forklift so the workers were sent to work on it and fix it. The door was stuck in the open position, but the door collapsed when the nuts from the support pillar became loose.
Both workers were injured. The men have broken legs and one sustained a cut on his head and shoulder after being struck by the door part. The injuries will need to heal for at least 15 months with physical therapy, but the men survived due to the health and safety precautions they took. The HSE is still going to look into the incident because there does not seem to be a suitable risk assessment involved.
It may be that the HSE will require manual handling risk assessment and further training courses for the plant due to the injuries. Because a forklift accident caused the door to be in disrepair, it may be that the person driving the lift did not have proper training resulting in the incident.
