Firm fined for health and safety failings
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Loading of trailer used by woodchip recycling specialist put workers at risk of injury
roger.brown@rbi.co.uk ABERDEENSHIRE-BASED Harpers Transport has been ined £8,000 after health and safety investigators discovered failings at the irm concerning trailer safety and procedures.
In a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution, Stirling Sheriff’s Court was told a trailer at the timber haulage and wood recycling specialist’s yard in Cowie, near Stirling, had been loaded with chipboard in an unstable coniguration, placing employees at risk of injury. The trailer, which was used to transport waste chipboard between yards at the Cowie site, was in a poor state of repair and unsafe.
It was also discovered that the task of loading, storage and unloading of the trailer with chipboard, despite being carried out by staff regularly, had not been adequately risk assessed by the irm.
In addition, a safe system of work had not been in place for employees to fol low and those employees had not been adequately trained. Harpers, which has its head ofice in Insch, pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Karen Moran, HSE inspector, says moving wood around the site was part of the company’s regular work, so it should have ensured that the equipment was safe. “The trailer that was used was in such a poor condition that it was not suitable for this task.” According to Moran, Harpers Transport also failed in its legal duty to ensure clear hazards were identiied and measures put in place to manage the risk.
She adds: “This includes making sure that equipment is maintained in a condition to carry out the work safely and that workers are trained in the correct procedures.” Harpers Transport was unavailable for comment.
According to the HSE, accidents involving transport at work are among the biggest causes of workplace fatalities.
In 2009/10, 41 workers died and more than 5,150 were injured across Great Britain as a result of being struck by a vehicle, falling from a vehicle, being hit by materials falling from a vehicle, being hit against a vehicle while travelling in it, or as a result of a vehicle collapsing or overturning.