Warning to businesses over guard-rails after worker breaks spine

A Black Country waste management firm has been fined £12,000 after a guard-rail gave way, resulting in a worker falling nearly three metres, narrowly missing a crushing machine.

AB Waste Management Ltd was prosecuted by the HSE for the safety failing. The company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 5 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, and was also ordered to pay £1,836 in costs.

Walsall & Aldridge Magistrates Court heard how, on 16 June 2009, the worker was on just his second day working at Junction Works, Cemetery Road, Darlaston when he was cleaning a crushing machine. During the job a guard rail gave way, and he fell almost three metres to the ground.

The victim’s spine was broken in two places, and he also suffered several deep cuts to his head that required skin grafts.

Following the case HSE Inspector, Gardabil Singh Tiwana, said:

“The worker was seriously let down by his employers who failed to maintain the safety measures that were supposed to protect him. The employee could easily have been killed if he’d fallen into the crushing machine when it was in operation.

“It’s all very well installing a guard-rail and other precautions, but if they’re not maintained and repaired properly then they are useless.

“All companies need to ensure guards supplied for their work activities are fit for purpose and if the machine has a maintenance log, that the log should be kept up to date.”