Safety report ignored
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by Peter Swingler II Bulk tanker operator Tankfreight has been fined C12,000 by Warley Magistrates for failing to provide safety equipment, which resulted in a gantry falling on a worker and paralysing him for life.
Technician Robert Cox, of Nally Drive, Coseley, near Dudley, a father of two, attended court in a wheelchair as the firm was fined.
Tankfreight, of The Merton Centre, St Peter's Street, Bedford, admitted failing to ensure the health and safety of employees.
Matthew McNeal, prosecuting for the Health & Safety Executive, said the incident happened on 20 November last year, when work was being carried out on a Tankfreight lorry at a Gulf Oil depot at Union Road, Oldbury, near Dudley. A mobile gantry was being used above the lorry, and as Cox was passing the vehicle, the gantry overturned and fell on him. He was trapped for 45 minutes and his spine was broken. He is now paralysed for life.
McNeal said: "An engineer had warned Tankfreight in a report two months earlier that the screw jacks had seized up
on the gantry, affecting its operation. But nothing had been done to improve safety."
Denise Buckley, defending, said the gantry was used twice a year.
"The defects had not been repaired because of a human error. Tankfreight very much regrets what has happened, but the defects have now been put right," she said.
"The firm is still paying Mr Cox's wages. It has provided a taxi service for his family and a wheelchair for Mr Cox. It is also going to try to find him a job.
"Tankfreight has 1,300 vehicles and 1,800 employees, and has always had a good reputation for safety."
After the hearing Cox, 35, said he had little hope of working again, and was going to make a legal claim against the firm for compensation. He had been employed by Tankfreight for nearly 10 years.
L Of 650 light goods vans stopped by police patrolling the motorway network in the West Midlands, 200 were found to be unroadworthy.
Inspector Frank Randle. head of operations at the Central Motorway Patrol Group, said: "The crackdown was aimed at goods vans of up to 7.5 tonnes. The checks were carried out over four weeks."