02.12.2011

Lift accident costs contractors £60,000+

Two UK companies have been fined £30,000 each for a lift accident that dates back to 2006.

Mouchel Parkman Services and Amey Infrastructure Services have been found guilty of failing to ensure the safety an employee and fined £30,000 each. Costs are likely to add considerably to this.

The fines arise from the death of a man after he was thrown from the platform he was using, while working on street lights on a dual carriageway in Liverpool in August 2006.

Peter Cole, 61, of Lymm, Cheshire, was working from a Versalift VST4000 van mounted platform on the A5036 central reservation in Seaforth, when the jib of the lift gave way, causing him to fall around eight metres. He died from his injuries in hospital later that day.

Cole was employed by Amey Infrastructure Services, part of the Amey Mouchel joint venture with Mouchel Parkman Services. The lift which dated back to 1996 was owned by Highland Access and rented to the joint venture.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which carried out the prosecution found that neither company had adequate systems at the time for checking and maintaining the lift.
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A man died after the jib gave way on this lift

HSE inspector Dave Guyers said: "Both companies had a legal duty to ensure Mr Cole remained safe but their checking and maintenance systems were inadequate and thus allowed him to use a cherry picker that was in a poor condition."

"Heavy usage and a regular repair record demand that checking and maintenance procedures are carried out thoroughly. It is vital with cherry pickers which place users at great risk when working at height.”
"Ageing machinery should be maintained properly and responsibly - not doing so increases the likelihood of this sort of incident."
click here to see the original report
Click here to see the update report

Vertikal Comment

No matter which aspect of this case you look at it is a disgrace, we understand that the lift was very poorly maintained and in poor condition. The two defendants had rented it and probably thought that this abrogated them from any need to maintain and inspect the machine?

As this result shows this is not the case and if nothing else it will hopefully encourage contractors to ensure that they rent equipment that is in tip top condition – even if it costs a little more – and to reject substandard or poorly maintained lifts.

The case is also an utter disgrace that it has taken five years to come to court and Highland Access has in the meantime gone bankrupt – something which seems to be a reoccurring theme in the UK at the moment. The facts in this case must have been clear within the first four to six weeks. The HSE ought to have charged any guilty parties at that time and-seeing as they pleaded guilty - the prosecution could have gone before a court in 2007. Lessons arising from this case could have then been a benefit to all over the subsequent four years or so.

Keeping cases open so long is of no use to anyone and costs all involved, including the taxpayer, not to mention the victim’s family. We should look to the USA- a good example might be the Notre Dame case in which a young student was killed after a scissor lift went over in gale force winds last year.

The incident occurred at the end of October 2010, a $77,000 fine was issued on March 16th 2011 and then modified to include the funding of a national safety campaign in place of some of the penalties. Click here to see Notre dame safety campaign

Changes to the way accidents are prosecuted has to happen, the recent Löfstedt report and planned changes to the health and safety regulations could be a catalyst towards changing the ridiculous, unjust and costly way such issues are currently treated in the UK.