A shop-fitting and joinery company based in Essex has been prosecuted after an employee’s legs were crushed in a work accident when MDF boards fell on him.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that Corvale Ltd – of Barrows Road in Harlow – had breached health and safety at work regulations by failing to provide a safe system of work for the storage and management of MDF and other sheets of wood.

In August 2009, a 60-year-old joiner known as Mr Barrington from King’s Road in Chingford  had been working for Corvale for seven weeks.  He was helping a colleague retrieve a large piece of MDF from the middle of a vertical storage stack and was supporting several boards in the stack, when he collapsed under the stack’s weight.

The boards crushed him against a machine and his knees took the full impact. He sustained ligament damage to both knees, requiring surgery plus ongoing treatment. Mr Barrington has been unable to return to work since the accident.

On Friday (07/05/10) at Harlow Magistrates’ Court, Corvale Ltd admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £2,667 with £2,460.80 costs.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Vicky Fletcher said that the incident ‘illustrates what can happen when employers fail to provide a safe working environment for their staff’.

‘Workers should never have to put themselves at risk in order to carry out routine tasks as part of their work,’ said Ms Fletcher.

‘In this case, the boards tipped out of control because they were not being stored in a fixed racking system.  

‘Even though Corvale responded immediately, the incident would not have happened had they considered the risk earlier and taken action. ‘

Ms Fletcher added that the HSE would not hesitate to prosecute companies who put staff at risk ‘through their lack of respect of health and safety procedures’.

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