The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has successfully prosecuted a vehicle repair firm after an employee was crushed by a lorry that fell on him.

In June 2007, Martin John Carswell, 47, of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire was working at the Kettering-based company FW Abbott Ltd. Mr Carswell was working beneath a 24-tonne road drain cleaning vehicle when the equipment that was supporting it collapsed.

He had used four hydraulic lifts to raise the vehicle up to around six feet. However, instead of placing them on the front and fourth axles, as is common practice, he placed them on the front and third axle.

After raising the lorry, it is thought Mr Carswell intended to rotate the wheels on the third axle and placed a single tall axle stand under the middle fourth axle. He then lowered the lifts so that the wheels on the third axle were able to rotate. As he started to adjust the brakes of the third axle, it is believed the vehicle wobbled and the axle stand collapsed. As it fell, the rear of the vehicle bounced into the hydraulic lifts, knocking them away from the wheels, causing the vehicle to fall onto Mr Carswell.

On Wednesday, 2 December at Northampton Crown Court, FW Abbott Ltd of Pytchley Road, Kettering pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 for failing to train employees in a safe system of work for raising and working beneath vehicles.  The company was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £25,000 costs.

The court heard that there were two axle stands available, but Mr Carswell had only used one. Each stand had a safe working load of 7.5 tonnes – which, if used together, would have been adequate to support the rear of the vehicle; however, the single stand used would have been ‘massively’ overloaded.

The court was told that there were no health and safety systems in place to ensure that employees followed safe practices.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Neil Craig called the accident ‘unfortunate and tragic’:

‘Martin Carswell was an experienced mechanic who had used this equipment on numerous occasions,‘ said Mr Craig. ‘We will never know why, on that day, he chose to support the rear of this vehicle on a single axle stand.  

‘However, as this incident has shown, raising and working beneath these heavy vehicles can be very dangerous and the company should have completed a proper risk assessment and trained their employees in a safe system of work. Had they done so, Mr Carswell might have been more diligent in the way he went about raising and supporting this vehicle and this incident is far less likely to have occurred.

‘I would urge all employers who use these lifts and supports on large vehicles to ensure their employees understand the risks involved and the measures to protect against them.’

© 5r1 Limited 2009