Rochdale Firm Fined Over Incident

A work accident claims lawyer has called on all businesses which receive Health and Safety Executive improvement notices to act on them.

David Urpeth of Irwin Mitchell made the call after Rochdale engineering firm Carter International was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £4,184 in costs over an incident in September 2009 which saw a two-tonne piece of machinery fall onto a worker.

The incident left the labourer with a broken collar bone, as well as multiple fractures to his legs that meant he could not return to work for ten months.

An investigation revealed that bolts used on the machine were not suitable, while it also emerged that Carter had not acted on a notice it received over the regular testing of lifting machinery.

Such news concerned injury expert David Urpeth, who said: “Safety notices are given out to companies for a reason and I urge any organisation which receives one to immediately act upon it.

“In addition, this incident highlights that it is vital for companies to make use of the correct systems and equipment if they are to provide the right levels of protection to employees.

“This incident could and should have been avoided. I hope this acts a wake-up call for other firms in the engineering sector.”