Worker’s legs crushed by concrete table tennis tables
An employee has been unable to return to work after his legs were crushed by four concrete table tennis tables weighing one ton.
His employer, Bendcrete Leisure, a Manchester table tennis table manufacturer, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The worker was attempting to move a concrete table tennis table towards a stack of four other tables using an overhead crane in February 2015, Trafford Magistrates’ Court heard. The tables were balanced on two half-empty resin barrels which were not designed to take any loads.
The worker was standing next to the stacked tables. As he lowered the table, the barrels collapsed and caused the tables to slide off. The worker was trapped between the tables and the crane stanchion.
Other employees were able to move the tables and free him. He was then taken by air ambulance to Wythenshawe Hospital.
The HSE carried out an investigation and found that the work had not been planned, supervised or carried out safely.
Bendcrete Leisure Ltd, of Stalybridge, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The company was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £3,495 in costs.