Company fined after teenager injured on work experience
A supplier of industrial equipment based in Newcastle has been fined after a teenager on work experience was injured while unloading a delivery.
Stafford Crown Court heard how during the unloading of a heavy electrical panel from the back of a lorry at Radwell International Limited, the injured teenager was asked to steady the panel which had been put on a wooden pallet on the floor.
The panel fell, trapping him on the ground and across the forks of the forklift truck. He suffered a head injury and five compression fractures to his pelvis.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident which took place in December 2014, found the company had failed to carry out suitable and sufficient risk assessments, training, supervision and communication.
Radwell International Limited of Lymedale Business Park, Newcastle-under-Lyme, pleaded guilty to breaching sections 2 and 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and was fined £86,666 and ordered to pay costs of £12,143.
After the hearing HSE inspector Steve Shaw said: “This case highlights the need for companies to have in place safe systems of work for all deliveries at their premises.
“Had such a system been in place, this teenager starting his working career need not have suffered the painful injuries he endured, and this company would not have faced the judgment of the courts.”