A banksman who lost a finger after an accident loading a lorry has seen his employer fined £15,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,238.
Scottish company Caledonian Building Systems was prosecuted by the Health & Safety Executive for the accident which happened at its Carlton-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire site in February 2009. The company pleaded guilty to breaching two sets of safety regulations. The HSE says it was a routine lifting operation which was poorly assessed and the consequences could have been even worse.
Banksman John Hughes of Newark was working in the firm’s yard, helping a fork lift truck driver to raise an 11-tonne modular building unit off blocks and a wheeled axle onto a lorry. When the unstable load began rocking Hughes put his hand on the block to move it out of the way but one end of the unit crashed onto his fingers.
His index finger was crushed and amputated at the knuckle. Eighteen months later after further problems it was completely amputated. His middle finger was also damaged. He was off work for 12 weeks.
