A manufacturer has been fined £80,000 following a preventable incident at its County Durham site on 18 November 2024. A visiting lorry driver, employed by Dobbs Logistics Ltd, fell from a trailer during loading and sustained a brain injury and multiple fractures, leaving him unable to work. Below are listed some of the failures and consequences from the incident, found by the Health and Safety Executive.
Failures and Consequences
The HSE investigation found that Penn Elcom Limited failed to ensure the safety of visiting workers and did not implement suitable measures to prevent falls from height during the loading process. In this case, falling from height was from the visiting vehicle.
Key failings cited by the HSE:
- Failure to identify the risks of working at height during loading/unloading.
- Failure to implement appropriate safety controls.
- Warning on preventability
HSE Inspector Beth Chapman stressed the need for action: “Falls from vehicles account for around a third of all workplace transport injuries… This was a wholly avoidable incident caused by the company’s failure to identify the risks and implement suitable control measures.”
Penn Elcom Limited pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety law and was fined £80,000 plus £4,537.32 in costs.
We hope you found this latest story interesting from the Health and Safety Executive, and shows the importance of ensuring all risks from height are accounted for to reduce the risk of employee injury and death. Do keep an eye on the latest from HSE news.
