A York-based construction firm has been prosecuted after a mobile elevating work platform overturned, seriously injuring a worker, public liability insurance holders have been told.
Shepherd Construction pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 for its role in the incident at the Trinity Square construction site in Nottingham and was fined £20,000 with additional costs of £6,900.
Nottingham Magistrates Court was told how in August 2007, a contractor on the site drove a cherry picker over a concealed manhole cover.
The cover then gave way under the weight of the machine leading it to topple over, giving the driver serious skull, back and leg injuries.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Martin Giles said that the company had failed to put in place adequate measures to find and record where the manholes and service covers around the site were and therefore could not prevent vehicles from driving over them.
Last year, HSE principal inspector Richard Bulmer warned public liability insurance holders about the dangers of working from height on machines such as mobile scaffolds or cherry pickers if they are not used safely.