Trailer repair company fined after worker killed

A Suffolk-based trailer service firm has been fined after an employee suffered fatal head injuries.

Ipswich Crown Court heard how an employee of the defendant was operating a scissor-lift working platform when this was struck by a Long Goods Vehicle (LGV), causing him to be ejected onto a roadway from a height of 1.5 metres.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident, which occurred on 23 January 2015, found that SPR Trailer Services Limited failed to plan and organise work at height in a manner that ensured the safety of their workers. The work at height should have been organised to segregate activity in space and/or time from adjacent workplace transport operations.

SPR Trailer Services Limited of 5 Walton Avenue, Felixstowe, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and has been fined £120,000.

Speaking after the case, HSE Principal Inspector Norman Macritchie said “This was a tragic and wholly avoidable incident, caused by the failure of the company to implement and monitor safe systems of work. The company did not undertake the simple safety measure of segregating those working at height from adjacent workplace transport operations, in line with widely available industry guidance.”