A construction firm partner’s inadequate packaging of breeze-blocks led to a 31-year-old worker sustaining permanent injuries to his legs, leaving him off work for a year and a half, magistrates have learned.
The blocks were delivered to a building site in Carlton, Gedling, in July 2009 but were not packaged correctly, meaning the telehandler equipment could not pick them up properly.
Telehandler operator John Handley, a partner in Nottinghamshire firm J&C Handley, used the machinery’s hydraulic grabber to pick up the breeze-blocks but this caused them to sway. He then asked sub-contractor David Cotterill to steady the load using his hands while walking alongside.
But Mr Cotterill slipped and landed under the telehandler, breaking his foot, ankle and leg.
John Handley, from St Eia, Friday Lane, Gedling, admitted breaking section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 for failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of persons not in his employment.
He was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,000.
Source: Claims Magazine
