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£175,000 fine after worker was crushed

James Ferguson
20/12/2006

AN OLDHAM builders' merchants has been fined £175,000 after an employee was crushed by a lorry and injured so badly he could no longer work.

Travis Perkins, in Bell Street, Mumps, was handed the fine and ordered to pay £15,800 in costs after the company was prosecuted by Oldham Council's environmental health department.

The accident, which officers say could have been prevented, happened in September, 2004, when an employee - who has not been named - was crushed between a lorry and a forklift truck in the yard.

He suffered multiple internal injuries and has been unable to return to work since.

The company, one of the biggest chains of builders' merchants in the country, had already been visited by council environmental health officers more than once before the incident, and they had demanded action over the unsafe conditions they found.

They told the company that the yard was not big enough for the level of operations taking place, particularly with regard to moving vehicles.

Cllr Dave Hibbert, cabinet member for the environment, said: "This was a preventable accident that had been highlighted on numerous occasions by council staff but was not acted upon.

"The size of this fine sends out a very clear message to local companies that safety in fast-moving sites such as this is something that has to be taken extremely seriously - the consequences of not acting can be the death or serious injury of a staff member and also, as this case demonstrates, a serious financial penalty to the company."

A spokesman for Travis Perkins said the company accepted the findings of the court, and stressed that it had an otherwise exemplary record in health and safety practice.

Following this incident, traffic management reviews were undertaken at all its branches across the country to ensure that a similar incident could not be repeated, and this had since been continually monitored.

The spokesman said: "The Travis Perkins Group takes health and safety extremely seriously and is fully aware of its responsibilities with regard to its employees, commercial vehicles and site transport, as well as to its customers."