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Firm fined over injuries to man hit by steel bar
A FIRM has been fined £45,000 after a worker suffered head and brain injuries when he was struck by a 61kg steel bar.
Shelley Steels, a steel stock holder in Dodworth, was sentenced and ordered to pay costs of £1,532 following an incident in March, when two employees were preparing an order for 10 steel bars.
One was at the side of a combi-lift truck while the other rolled them backwards and forwards on the forks to form a stack.
As the combi-lift truck driver was stacking the bars, a 2m steel bar flipped out from the combi-lift and struck the other employee on the head - causing him severe head and brain injuries that have left him unable to return to work.
Barnsley Council’s regulatory services prosecuted the firm, based at Fall Bank Industrial Estate, for breaching health and safety legislation and managers admitting the offence.
Councillor Roy Miller, Barnsley Council cabinet spokesman for development, environment and culture, said the incident was entirely preventable.
He said: “The company failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment or implement a safe system of work for moving steel stock with the combi-lift.
“The lack of a safe system of work or suitable and sufficient risk assessments for loading and stacking of steel stock led directly to the employee’s injuries.
“Regulatory services will have no hesitation in taking employers to court who fail to take appropriate health and safety measures to safeguard their employees at work.”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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