Foam firm fined after driver injured by falling insulating boards
Page 11
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A COURT HAS heard how a truck driver suffered a broken back and serious head injuries after a pile of insulating boards he was delivering fell on him.
In a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates' Court was told that in October 2009, Colin Ball, from Codsall near Wolverhampton, was delivering a consignment of insulation boards to the Stoke-on-Trent warehouse of foam manufacturer Recticel, when a separate stack toppled onto him and knocked him into his trailer.
Ball suffered multiple spinal fractures, a serious head injury and is likely to need long-term rehabilitation.
Recticel pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety regulations and was fined £6,238, with £11,762 costs.
Lyn Mizen, USE inspector, says several workplace fatalities and serious injuries happen every year in the haulage industry as a result of falling objects.
She adds: "Employers have just as great a duty of care to visiting employees as they do to their own.
Chris Hall. Recticel sales and marketing director, said the company had a "deep regret" over the incident and had implemented further controls following a "substantive review" of its health and safety policies.