A Hertfordshire company which designs and manufactures shop fixtures and displays has been fined after a worker fell and fractured his pelvis.
On 3 November 2010, Denis Cronin, 47, a production assistant from Baldock, was dismantling racking at a temporary warehouse Benchmark Fabrication Ltd had been using in Hunting Gate, Hitchin. He was straddling one of its beams when it splayed, causing him to fall two metres onto a wooden pallet below.
Mr Cronin’s pelvis was fractured in three places, he was in hospital for a week and took a further three months to fully recover.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found Mr Cronin and his colleague had been told by their manager to use the zig-zags in the uprights of the warehouse racking as a ladder and also that method was standard practice at the company.
At Hertford Magistrates’ Court, Benchmark Fabrication Ltd of Jubilee Road, Letchworth, Hertfordshire admitted breaching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £2,923.50 in costs.