An engineering firm has been fined for safety failings after a marine hatch and frame seriously injured an employee.

Point Engineering (Hull) Ltd of Lee Smith Street, Hull, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. It was fined £30,000 with £24,577 in costs.

Hull Crown Court heard Richard Blake, 63, worked as a welder and fabricator for the company during the incident in February 2014.


He was preparing the marine hatch for inspection alongside a surveyor and used a sling and overhead crane to move it to a vertical position so that the hinge could be stamped with an approval mark by the surveyor.

However, the marine door fell forward onto Mr Blake, trapping his pelvis and legs. The surveyor, who was approximately one metre away from Mr Blake, narrowly escaped injury when the hatch and frame grazed the toe of his safety boot. Mr Blake's injuries included a shattered pelvis and broken hip.

HSE Inspector Sarah Lee said: "If the job had been correctly planned and risk assessed then a safe way of doing the job could have been established. Sadly it was not, which lead to Mr Blake suffering from these terrible injuries."

(LM/MH)