A plant hire firm has been fined after a worker fell from a basket, sustaining serious injuries…
Hugh Simpson (Contractors) Limited has been fined for safety failings after a worker was seriously injured following a fall.
The firm, based in Caithness, was charged at Wick Sherriff Court. The case revealed how the company was contracted to unload Deurgro Danmark ships once they docked at Wick Harbour on 7 January 2013.
The firm was overseeing the lifting operation and had provided its own equipment, but had subcontracted JGC Engineering and Technical Services Limited (‘JGC’) to remove sea fastenings from the ships’ holds.
Brian Reid, who was employed by JGC, was injured after he was lowered into the hold in a lifting basket attached to a crane. An employee from Hugh Simpson was overseeing lifting operations and was communicating with both Reid and the crane operator, as the basket was not visible to the crane operator.
However, Reid was thrown onto the hold floor while in the basket and sustained multiple injuries, including complex fractures to his face and nose. He also sustained fractures to his left hand.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed operational plans and risk assessments prepared by Hugh Simpson failed to include lifting people in a basket attached to a mobile crane. Additionally, the investigation found the basket was not suitable for use in that manner and should only have been used with a forklift truck.
Hugh Simpson (Contractors) Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 8 of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £26,000.
