Complete Clarity Solicitors

logo

Aberdeen Firm Sentenced for Worker’s Fall

An engineering services company has been fined for safety failings after a worker was injured when he fell from the trailer bed of a lorry at its premises in Aberdeen.

The 61-year-old worked as a storeman and driver for the firm and had just secured a load in the back of the lorry using ratchet straps. He took hold of the strap to steady himself as he stepped backwards over the side boards of the lorry, intending to use the side crash bar as a step down to the ground. However, the strap came loose and he fell backwards onto the ground below.

The worker suffered minor head injuries and was taken to hospital but was discharged the same day. He returned to work a few days later and has made a full recovery.

When the Health and Safety Executive investigated the incident, it found that the firm had failed to identify the risk of falls from vehicles, and had not considered work on the lorries in that context to be a hazard. As a result, no control measures had been put in place to prevent falls.

Employees had also not been given any training, information or instruction on how to carry out the task safely, and a lack of supervision meant that they had each devised their own way of working.

The company was fined £5,000 after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Contact our Solicitors in Aberdeen

To find out how our solicitors based in Aberdeen, Scotland, can help you please call us today on 01224 968 210. We look forward to hearing from you.