Member Article

Workington firm in court over after man injured by steel beam

A Workington-based manufacturer has been fined for safety failings after an employee was badly injured when he was struck by a one-and-a-half-tonne steel beam.

TIS Cumbria Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident at its workshop on Isabella Road on 23 July 2013.

Workington Magistrates Court heard that an operator at the workshop had been using a magnetic lifting attachment on an overhead crane to move a metal bar onto the top of a 12-metre-long steel beam.

After they did this, the attachment moved in an uncontrolled manner and resulted in the steel beam being knocked over and striking two employees.

One of the workers, who has asked not to be named, broke his leg and foot in several places and suffered a dislocated ankle. The 34-year-old man from Workington has still been unable to return to work more than a year on from the incident.

The court was told the company did not organise the lifting operation with the overhead crane in a safe manner.

This could have included preventing workers from standing in the area of the workshop where the crane was being used, or taking other measures to prevent contact with potential hazards.

TIS Cumbria Ltd, of Derwent Drive in Workington, was fined £16,000 and ordered to pay £4,994 in prosecution costs after pleading guilty to a breach of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998.

HSE Inspector Steve Boyd said: “Two workers were injured in this incident, one of whom was unable to work for more than a year after.

“TIS Cumbria Ltd should have made sure lifting operations were carried out safely but instead the company allowed a situation to occur where an employee was struck by a steel beam weighing one and a half tonnes.

“It is vital manufacturers think carefully about the risks during lifting operations and plan and undertake the work safely.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .