Botched lift leaves worker with punctured lungs

Grant Prior 10 years ago
Share

A lifting specialist has been fined after a worker sustained life-threatening injuries at a hotel construction site in Stratford, east London.

The 25-year-old from Gravesend, who does not wish to be named, punctured both lungs, broke 17 ribs and suffered major internal trauma during the incident on November 15 2011.

He was in intensive care for eight days and was off work for more than five months.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that his employer, Rollmark Engineering Limited, trading as MRI London, was contracted to move large items of equipment into a lower ground plant room at the hotel.

The injured worker was one of five MRI employees attempting to move a vessel weighing 1.3 tonnes into the room using a chain blocks and hoists.

One worker was operating the hoists, two others were standing alongside the vessel to steady it and the final two, including the injured party, were standing on the edge of a raised ledge to provide further steadying support.

The vessel had been manoeuvred so that two of its feet were on the floor, but as it was being raised to stand fully upright the injured worker fell from the upper level.

At the same time the vessel detached from a load hook and fell on top of him, pinning and crushing him against the edge of the ledge.

An HSE investigation found that although MRI had prepared a risk assessment and method statement for the work it was deficient in several areas.

The statement was lacking detail, the wrong lifting equipment was specified and the assessment was not site specific, failing to acknowledge the actual risks associated with moving equipment down into the plant room.

HSE also found that the lifting equipment being used included a defective chain block hoist that had a missing safety catch.

Rollmark Engineering Limited of Gravesend was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £14,860 in costs after pleading guilty to safety breaches.

After the hearing HSE Inspector Eileen Gascoigne said: “This serious incident was entirely preventable and clearly demonstrates the need to ensure that lifting operations are planned and managed with the utmost care, especially when they involve heavy items of kit or machinery.

“Had the work been better assessed, and had the right equipment been provided, then the trauma the worker endured could have been avoided.

“He and his colleagues were placed at unnecessary risk, and I hope today’s prosecution sends a clear message to anyone undertaking such operations.”

Latest news

HS2 Euston needs full design reset as costs set to double

Spending watchdog warns Euston stop-start delay will simply inflate already ballooning costs
9 hours ago

Worker dies on major warehouse site in Stafford

Main contractor Glencar halts work while tragedy is investigated
2 hours ago

Sellar switches London flats/hotel plan for 444 student rooms

Southwark's King’s Place scheme will comprise five buildings of up to 11 storeys
2 hours ago

Bid race starts for Norfolk £30m Long Stratton Bypass

Council hopes to start work on 3.9km bypass in April 2024
1 hour ago

GMI to build first warehouse at £200m Teesside business park

Work to start early next month on first shed at airport business park
46 mins ago

Skanska Costain Strabag JV sets up own rebar plant

HS2 team now running on-site manufacturing facility to avoid supply chain issues
1 hour ago

Bid rigging: Keltbray to appeal and so could Squibb

Both contractors "disappointed" with level of fines
3 days ago

Ten demolition firms fined £60m for bid rigging

Full details of fines with Erith and Keltbray hardest hit
4 days ago

Retail contractor J M Scully files administration notice

£23m turnover Dorset based contractor lodges court notice
3 days ago

Civils specialist M Lambe delivers record performance

Housing civils specialist seeks to diversify in face of challenging housing market
3 days ago

Willmott Dixon clinches £60m Oxford Brookes University job

Preparation work starts on two new buildings at Headington Hill campus
3 days ago

Ferns seals £50m+ Openreach network services deal

Five-year south west deal to provide civils, poling and complex manhole programme
3 days ago

20 firms win £4.5bn Southern construction framework

A dozen new firms secure spots on fifth generation public sector deal
4 days ago

Call grows for bolder 18m second staircase rule for flats

Architects, surveyors and builders professional trade bodies demand lower height threshold than proposed 30m
4 days ago

GRS Roadstone warns staff following cyber attack

Materials giant sends out letters highlighting the extent of the attack
4 days ago

Inland Homes to suspend shares as results delayed again

Auditors need more time to go through embattled house builder's books
4 days ago

Kier wins £73m Southport events centre job

Local supply chain set to benefit from major new project
4 days ago

Multiplex profit rebounds as margin restored to 2.9%

London tower builder predicts return to revenue growth this year as major schemes advance
5 days ago

Upbeat Vistry to re-open mothballed offsite factory

Former Countryside timber panel factories rebranded Vistry Works in revived drive to deliver 5,000 units a year
5 days ago

Builder crushed and blinded in wall collapse

Property owner in court after barn conversion goes horribly wrong
5 days ago

Keltbray bags £140m haul of energy infrastructure work

Specialist secures trio of power frameworks, two battery storage facilities and an energy from waste package
5 days ago

Government awards £1.8bn for energy retrofit schemes – list

Housing and public building decarbonising funds awards to support 20,000 construction jobs
5 days ago

Landmark London scheme switches from flats to student rooms

Regal London rethinks Old Kent Road scheme with 900 student rooms and 220 affordable homes
5 days ago

Align reveals designs for final portal of HS2 tunnel

Contractor confirms how final key structure on project will look
5 days ago

Plans in for 1.4m sq ft of industrial space at Fiddlers Ferry

Peel NRE to appoint demolition contractors for coal-fired power station in weeks
5 days ago

Tilbury Douglas to replace hospital hit by weak concrete

Stoke-on-Trent outpatients building containing Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete to be replaced
6 days ago

Derby picked as destination for Great British Railways HQ

Public vote secures Derby's bid to be nerve centre of the rail industry
6 days ago

London tower over historic Leadenhall market approved

Building work to start in 2025 on 32-storey tower by historic city market
6 days ago

PfH starts race for £520m housing decarbonising deal

Four-year framework covers service specific lots from £5m to £100m
6 days ago

“Rock solid” balance sheet and record results for Henry Boot

Firm sees early signs of recovery this year in core markets
6 days ago

Contractor services