Container terminal fined £180,000 following serious injuries to worker
Health and Safety Executive v London Container (Tilbury) Ltd (2017) Basildon Crown Court, February 20
Statutory reference: ss. 2 and 3 of the Health and Safety at Work, etc., Act 1974 (HSWA).
London Container (Tilbury) Ltd (LCT) has been fined after a worker suffered life-changing injuries when the vehicle which he was driving overturned.
The facts
· In November 2014 a worker at Tilbury Docks was driving a straddle carrier, used for stacking and moving freight shipping containers. He drove into an excavation because he could not see road cones, flashing lights or ticker tape around the excavation. It was dark and the weather conditions were poor.
· The vehicle overturned and the worker suffered life-changing injuries including serious head wounds.
· The precautions taken by LCT were wholly inadequate. All the straddle carriers working near the excavation had been exposed to the risk ofr several days.
The decision
LCT was fined £180,000 plus £73,000 costs for breaches of ss. 2 and 3, HSWA, for failing to ensure the health and safety of employees and non-employees.