Suffolk firm prosecuted over injury to trapped worker

Published HSE:  August 2011

A Suffolk truck dealership has been fined after an incident in which a technician was trapped when the cab of a lorry fell on him, causing him to be off work for six weeks.

Trevor Muffett, 60, from Akenham, near Ipswich, was carrying out a routine vehicle check when an inbuilt strut holding up the cab gave way. He suffered two broken ribs and was trapped underneath the lorry for ten minutes.

Orwell Trucks, trading as Orwell Truck and Van, of Betts Avenue in Martlesham, pleaded guilty at Ipswich Magistrates' Court today to breaching section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

The company was fined £4,500 and ordered to pay costs of £2,726.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Ivan Brooke said:

"Orwell Trucks did identify the risks facing their employees and how to prevent things going wrong. But it did not make sure that they had the necessary information or that they were properly trained. Nor were the measures needed to avoid injury monitored or enforced by supervisors.

"Trevor Muffett's injury could have been foreseen and prevented. And it all could have been much worse: there are cases of people having been killed by falling vehicle cabs. HSE will not hesitate to take companies, big or small, to court when they fail to behave responsibly and so expose their workers to risk."

Notes to editors

• The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to prevent death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk
• Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Etc. Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees."

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