A Sheffield company has been fined £60,000 after an 800kg steel pallet crushed an employee’s legs.
Wayne Hatton, from Doncaster, was left permanently disabled after being crushed by the pallet during a night shift at the Amber Precast Ltd factory on January 14, 2021. Then aged 46, he had his lower right leg and two toes on his left foot amputated following the incident at Davy Business Park.
This took place while the pallet was being removed from a reinforced concrete cast. At the time, Mr Hatton had only recently been employed as a supervisor.
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A father-of-two, he spent seven weeks in hospital overall. Now aged 50, Mr Hatton was also fitted with a prosthetic leg.
Now, a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the pallet had not been secured onto the lifting chains of the overhead crane before being removed from the cast. This meant the pallet was not being supported while it was moved.
In addition, the investigation found Amber Precast Ltd failed to consistently implement a system of work to ensure the pallet could be removed safely. Mr Hatton and the other members on his team had not received any information or instructions on how to remove the pallet safely.
(Image: Health and Safety Executive)
Amber Precast Ltd, of Davy Business Park, Prince of Wales Road, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. They were fiend £60,000 and ordered to pay £5,406.31 in costs at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court on January 9, 2025.
HSE inspector Jane Fox said: “This incident could so easily have been avoided with the correct instruction and implementation of an agreed safe working procedure. Amber Precast Ltd left its employees to work out their own methods of completing the pallet removal task, instead of providing them with suitable training and equipment so it could be done safely every time.”
The HSE said the investigation was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Andy Siddall was was supported by HSE paralegal officer Rebecca Withell.
The site of the incident
(Image: Health and Safety Executive)