A waste collection firm has appeared in court after poor safety measures led to a worker falling from the top of a truck in Blackburn.
Neales Waste Management Ltd. was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after a 44-year-old employee fell four metres to the ground while trying to remove waste that had become stuck on the roof of a collection vehicle.
Blackburn Magistrates' Court heard the worker from Blackburn had been helping to empty a skip at Walker Industrial Park on 7 September 2010 when the incident happened.
The employee climbed up some metal bars on the truck to reach the stuck waste and fell when the access fixings gave way. He suffered a broken right elbow and damage to his left foot.
The HSE investigation found that the company had allowed workers to use the metal bars to reach the top of the vehicle, despite them not being designed for this purpose.
The court was told waste often became stuck on the roofs of vehicles while the contents of overfilled skips were being emptied. But the firm did not have a safe procedure in place for removing the stuck waste.
Neales Waste Management Ltd admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by failing to ensure the safety of employees. The company, of Walker Road in Guide, Blackburn, was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £11,661 in prosecution costs on 29 November 2011.