Pelloby Engineering has been fined £12,000 with costs of over £1000 after a beam fell onto an employee crushing his leg and torso.

A team of two workers were moving the seven metre beam at the company's 'finishing shop' site on 21 August 2014.

The load was connected to an overhead crane using a single five tonne fabric round sling.

During lifting, the sling snapped and dropped the two tonne beam to the floor, landing on one of the employees and crushing him.

The workers were steadying the load by hand and not using 'tag lines' to keep themselves out of danger.

-- Advertisement --

The employee using the crane had also not been formally trained to operate the machine.

Finally, the sling was found to be in a poor state of repair and lacked the required statutory examination report.

Pelloby pleaded guilty of breaching Regulation 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

HSE Inspector Lyn Mizen said: "This employee has suffered some horrendous injuries as a result of an entirely preventable incident. 

"The employee leading the lifting operation was not trained to use the equipment or to recognise when it was unsafe to use. They were also not informed about the use of ‘tag lines’ which are designed to keep workers out of dangerous areas. 

"Pelloby Engineering Limited fell far below the standards expected of a competent employer, standards which are well publicised and accepted within the industry."

(LM/MH)