This news article featured in issue no. 7 in CHSP’s October 2021 newsletter.
A Crane Engineer working for Contractor Technical Cranes was working at Yorkshire Stainless’s site who didn’t have suitable equipment for working at height. The engineer decided to get into a wooden crate (pictured) placed on the forks of a forklift but not secured. It was then lifted 6 metres in the air to undertake repair work. When the forks were being lowered the crate became unbalanced and the Engineer was tipped out and fell onto the concrete fall. The Engineer suffered head injuries rib fractures, a punctured lung, a fractured sternum and multiple fractures of the pelvis.
The worker was trained to use work at height equipment one of which was a scissor lift.
A prohibition notice was served to Yorkshire Stainless to prevent this method from being used again.
Both the contracting firm and the client whose premises the incident took place were found equally responsible for the fall.
How to prevent this from happening to you
- Ensure there is cooperation and discussion between the two companies (contractor and client) as to how the work could be undertaken safely and what equipment was already on site to allow safe access at height.
- Ensure appropriate means of access equipment is available to complete work at height.
- Ensure there is a written risk assessment method statement available specifically for the task and location prior to the works being undertaken.
- If the work at height activity is taking place on your premises by an external contractor request their site-specific risk assessment method statement for the task AND
- Ensure a staff member knows they are responsible for overseeing this work to ensure it is taking place safely with suitable equipment.
- Report near misses to allow for planning to prevent future occurrences