Retailer fined after raised man-riding cage accident
March 1st 2010 A food retailer has been fined after one of its warehouse staff was injured while preparing pallets for delivery in a raised man-riding cage.
The employee, Chirag Ray, was knocked unconscious and severely injured following a four metre fall at the Wembley warehouse.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted EAT, who pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,500 at the City of London Magistrates' Court.
The court heard that on 28 January 2007 Ray was preparing pallets for delivery to the company's retail shops at EAT’s central production unit. He was working in a raised man-riding cage, which was not properly fixed to the forklift truck.While raised to a height of approximately 4.6 metres, the cage slipped off the forks and fell.Mr Ray was unconscious in hospital for two days and suffered swelling to the brain, a broken hand, broken elbow, cracked ribs and a dislocated knee.
The HSE investigation showed that EAT did not have adequate measures in place to control the risks of working at height. The cage used was not suitable for order picking and the work was being carried out in an unsafe manner. Evidence also showed that a colleague working on the ground narrowly escaped injury as the cage fell.
HSE inspector, Ravi Govin-Pillay said: “Falls from height are the single biggest cause of fatal injuries at work. Each year there are around 60 people killed and 4,000 major injuries caused by falls in the workplace. On this occasion, Mr Ray was seriously injured and lucky to escape death. One of his colleagues narrowly avoided serious injury.
“The risk of harm from falling from the working platform was clearly foreseeable. Had this work been properly planned or supervised, then this needless incident would have easily been prevented.
“It is important for companies to have the necessary planning and supervision in place to control the risks of injury from working at height. There is good HSE guidance available about the hazards of working at height and the measures that can be taken to reduce the risks. There is no excuse for putting workers at risk.”
In a separate incident, Tipton-based Installations Ltd has been fined £10,000 for breaching health and safety laws following a worker's fall at a warehouse.
The HSE prosecuted the firm after one of its employees injured his head and ribs when he fell from a racking storage unit that he was assembling at Toolbank Specialist Services in Halesowen in 2008. More articles from Handling & Storage Solutions: | 
