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Fined £5,000 after worker hit by van in depot

20th december 2012
Page 12
Page 12, 20th december 2012 — Fined £5,000 after worker hit by van in depot
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HALFORDS Autocentres has been fined £5,000 after a worker was struck by a reversing van at its depot in Birmingham In a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution, Birmingham Magistrates' Court was told how in October 2011 Michelle Sloan, 45, from Aston, was parked in front of the Halfords Autocentres reception in Acocks Green to unload some parts. She was reaching into the back of the vehicle when a van reversed into her door, trapping her legs.

It crushed both of her knees, causing a torn tendon in her left knee and a severed tendon in the right one. A year after the incident she is still struggling to walk and has been unable to return to work.

An HSE investigation found that Halfords hadn't put suitable control measures in place to separate pedestrians and vehicles on the site. Had they done so, the incident would not have happened.

Halfords Autocentres pleaded guilty to a breach of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 for failing to ensure workers and vehicles could move safely around the site. It was also ordered to pay £5,000 in costs.

HSE inspector Matt Whitaker said: "[Sloan] has suffered severe injuries as a result of the company's safety failings. Although it has since made improvements, it is disappointing that it took an incident of this nature for these changes to be made."


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