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News - Commercial Motor
August 3, 2011
Tuffnells Parcels Express has been fined £150,000 after an employee had his skull crushed by a reversing truck at the firm's depot in Essex last year.
In a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday (1 August), Tuffnells pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Simon Mason, 22, from Romford, was working as a nightshift warehouse porter at Tuffnell's site in West Horndon near Brentwood in March 2010.
An articulated 45ft HGV trailer was being reversed into an open loading bay while Mason waited to unload it.
Mason noticed the trailer was not positioned straight in the bay, so thinking it had stopped moving, he put his head around the back of the trailer to shout instructions to the driver.
However, just as he did so, the trailer came back further and crushed his head against the brick bay wall.
Mason received severe head injuries which required constant care for months and he had to undergo several operations.
Although Mason returned to work in February he is still suffering some long term effects.
The HSE investigation found that Tuffnells had not assessed, controlled, or properly managed the risks arising from vehicle and equipment movements at its West Horndon depot.
It had also failed to provide a safe system of work for its employees.
Along with the £150,000 fine, Tuffnells was also ordered to pay costs of £19,000.
