Bradford Council was fined after a cherry picker overturned.
Bradford
Council has admitted failing to adequately plan work at height
following an incident where a worker fell from the cradle of a
cherrypicker.
Two council workers were pruning dead branches in Bierley Hall Woods when the incident took place on 27 July last year. They parked the cherrypicker correctly on a compacted path in the woods and placed ground mats underneath the vehicle's stabiliser feet.
One of the workers then stood in the cradle as it was extended to 35 feet above the ground, so he could begin pruning the branches. As he rotated the boom arm and cradle anti-clockwise to move from tree to tree, the weight distribution of the machine changed and the cherrypicker overturned, causing him to fall 11 metres to the ground.
The 23-year-old suffered fractures to his spine, collarbone, pelvis and right leg, and also sustained internal injuries that required surgery. He was unable to return to work for more than five months and is no longer able to carry out tree work at height.
The HSE investigated the incident and found the council had supplied the wrong type of ground mats. As a result, when the vehicle's weight shifted, one of the stabiliser feet slid off a mat and sunk into the soft ground, causing the vehicle to overbalance.
The investigation also found the work hadn't been properly planned and the council had failed to train workers to carry out tree work on soft, sloping, or uneven ground.
HSE inspector David Welsh said: "The use of a vehicle-mounted cherrypicker for work at height needs to be properly planned and organised. The council failed to assess the risks of the tree-pruning work and provided unsuitable mats for the stabiliser feet, which led to an unsafe system of work being in operation.
"A cherrypicker is specialist lifting equipment for work at height and the council did not have a lifting plan in place for its general use for tree pruning, despite the dangers of using such lifting equipment being well-known."
City of Bradford Metropolitan Council appeared at Bradford Magistrates' Court on 25 June and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974. It was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £9623 in costs. - See more at: http://www.shponline.co.uk/home/in-court/full/worker-plunged-11-metres-from-overturning-cherrypicker#sthash.WORJpVJ5.dpuf
Two council workers were pruning dead branches in Bierley Hall Woods when the incident took place on 27 July last year. They parked the cherrypicker correctly on a compacted path in the woods and placed ground mats underneath the vehicle's stabiliser feet.
One of the workers then stood in the cradle as it was extended to 35 feet above the ground, so he could begin pruning the branches. As he rotated the boom arm and cradle anti-clockwise to move from tree to tree, the weight distribution of the machine changed and the cherrypicker overturned, causing him to fall 11 metres to the ground.
The 23-year-old suffered fractures to his spine, collarbone, pelvis and right leg, and also sustained internal injuries that required surgery. He was unable to return to work for more than five months and is no longer able to carry out tree work at height.
The HSE investigated the incident and found the council had supplied the wrong type of ground mats. As a result, when the vehicle's weight shifted, one of the stabiliser feet slid off a mat and sunk into the soft ground, causing the vehicle to overbalance.
The investigation also found the work hadn't been properly planned and the council had failed to train workers to carry out tree work on soft, sloping, or uneven ground.
HSE inspector David Welsh said: "The use of a vehicle-mounted cherrypicker for work at height needs to be properly planned and organised. The council failed to assess the risks of the tree-pruning work and provided unsuitable mats for the stabiliser feet, which led to an unsafe system of work being in operation.
"A cherrypicker is specialist lifting equipment for work at height and the council did not have a lifting plan in place for its general use for tree pruning, despite the dangers of using such lifting equipment being well-known."
City of Bradford Metropolitan Council appeared at Bradford Magistrates' Court on 25 June and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974. It was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £9623 in costs. - See more at: http://www.shponline.co.uk/home/in-court/full/worker-plunged-11-metres-from-overturning-cherrypicker#sthash.WORJpVJ5.dpuf
Bradford
Council has admitted failing to adequately plan work at height
following an incident where a worker fell from the cradle of a
cherrypicker.
Two council workers were pruning dead branches in Bierley Hall Woods when the incident took place on 27 July last year. They parked the cherrypicker correctly on a compacted path in the woods and placed ground mats underneath the vehicle's stabiliser feet.
One of the workers then stood in the cradle as it was extended to 35 feet above the ground, so he could begin pruning the branches. As he rotated the boom arm and cradle anti-clockwise to move from tree to tree, the weight distribution of the machine changed and the cherrypicker overturned, causing him to fall 11 metres to the ground.
The 23-year-old suffered fractures to his spine, collarbone, pelvis and right leg, and also sustained internal injuries that required surgery. He was unable to return to work for more than five months and is no longer able to carry out tree work at height.
The HSE investigated the incident and found the council had supplied the wrong type of ground mats. As a result, when the vehicle's weight shifted, one of the stabiliser feet slid off a mat and sunk into the soft ground, causing the vehicle to overbalance.
The investigation also found the work hadn't been properly planned and the council had failed to train workers to carry out tree work on soft, sloping, or uneven ground.
HSE inspector David Welsh said: "The use of a vehicle-mounted cherrypicker for work at height needs to be properly planned and organised. The council failed to assess the risks of the tree-pruning work and provided unsuitable mats for the stabiliser feet, which led to an unsafe system of work being in operation.
"A cherrypicker is specialist lifting equipment for work at height and the council did not have a lifting plan in place for its general use for tree pruning, despite the dangers of using such lifting equipment being well-known."
City of Bradford Metropolitan Council appeared at Bradford Magistrates' Court on 25 June and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974. It was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £9623 in costs. - See more at: http://www.shponline.co.uk/home/in-court/full/worker-plunged-11-metres-from-overturning-cherrypicker#sthash.WORJpVJ5.dpuf
Two council workers were pruning dead branches in Bierley Hall Woods when the incident took place on 27 July last year. They parked the cherrypicker correctly on a compacted path in the woods and placed ground mats underneath the vehicle's stabiliser feet.
One of the workers then stood in the cradle as it was extended to 35 feet above the ground, so he could begin pruning the branches. As he rotated the boom arm and cradle anti-clockwise to move from tree to tree, the weight distribution of the machine changed and the cherrypicker overturned, causing him to fall 11 metres to the ground.
The 23-year-old suffered fractures to his spine, collarbone, pelvis and right leg, and also sustained internal injuries that required surgery. He was unable to return to work for more than five months and is no longer able to carry out tree work at height.
The HSE investigated the incident and found the council had supplied the wrong type of ground mats. As a result, when the vehicle's weight shifted, one of the stabiliser feet slid off a mat and sunk into the soft ground, causing the vehicle to overbalance.
The investigation also found the work hadn't been properly planned and the council had failed to train workers to carry out tree work on soft, sloping, or uneven ground.
HSE inspector David Welsh said: "The use of a vehicle-mounted cherrypicker for work at height needs to be properly planned and organised. The council failed to assess the risks of the tree-pruning work and provided unsuitable mats for the stabiliser feet, which led to an unsafe system of work being in operation.
"A cherrypicker is specialist lifting equipment for work at height and the council did not have a lifting plan in place for its general use for tree pruning, despite the dangers of using such lifting equipment being well-known."
City of Bradford Metropolitan Council appeared at Bradford Magistrates' Court on 25 June and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974. It was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £9623 in costs. - See more at: http://www.shponline.co.uk/home/in-court/full/worker-plunged-11-metres-from-overturning-cherrypicker#sthash.WORJpVJ5.dpuf
The circumstances were:
- Two tree workers set up the cherry picker correctly on a compacted path in the woods on 27 July 2012.
- The council had failed to properly plan and organise the safety aspects of the tree pruning work.
- All the council workers who did tree work in off-road locations had never been trained to do the work in soft, sloping or uneven ground. All the training had been done in a depot yard.
- The stabilsier feet were set down on mats.
- No one had realised that the distance between the stabiliser feet was greater than the width of the path.
- The wrong type of ground mats had been provided to the team to put underneath the machine's feet.
- One of the workers was working in the extended cradle among the tree tops.
- As he rotated the boom arm and cradle anti-clockwise to move from tree to tree, the weight distribution of the machine changed.
- When the weight shifted, one of the vehicle's stabiliser feet had slid off a ground mat and then sunk into the soft ground at the side of the compacted path.
- The unbalanced machine then toppled without warning.
- The worker plunged eleven metres from the cradle of a cherry picker.
- He suffered multiple injuries including fractures to his spine, collar bone, pelvis and right leg, plus internal injuries that required surgery
Bradford Council was fined £21,623 (inc. costs) on 25th June 2013.
The HSE inspector said:
"A young man has suffered life-changing injuries as a result of a number of failures by Bradford Council but we could easily have been dealing with a fatal injury considering the distance of this worker's fall. The use of a vehicle-mounted cherry picker for work at height needs to be properly planned and organised. The Council failed to assess the risks of the tree pruning work and provided unsuitable mats for the stabiliser feet, which led to an unsafe system of work being in operation. A cherry picker is specialist lifting equipment for work at height and the council did not have a lifting plan in place for its general use for tree pruning, despite the dangers of using such lifting equipment being well known. Work at height remains one of the most significant causes of death and major injuries among workers. All such work must be carefully planned and workers need the correct equipment for each task and adequate supervision."
Bradford
Council has admitted failing to adequately plan work at height
following an incident where a worker fell from the cradle of a
cherrypicker.
Two council workers were pruning dead branches in Bierley Hall Woods when the incident took place on 27 July last year. They parked the cherrypicker correctly on a compacted path in the woods and placed ground mats underneath the vehicle's stabiliser feet.
One of the workers then stood in the cradle as it was extended to 35 feet above the ground, so he could begin pruning the branches. As he rotated the boom arm and cradle anti-clockwise to move from tree to tree, the weight distribution of the machine changed and the cherrypicker overturned, causing him to fall 11 metres to the ground.
The 23-year-old suffered fractures to his spine, collarbone, pelvis and right leg, and also sustained internal injuries that required surgery. He was unable to return to work for more than five months and is no longer able to carry out tree work at height.
The HSE investigated the incident and found the council had supplied the wrong type of ground mats. As a result, when the vehicle's weight shifted, one of the stabiliser feet slid off a mat and sunk into the soft ground, causing the vehicle to overbalance.
The investigation also found the work hadn't been properly planned and the council had failed to train workers to carry out tree work on soft, sloping, or uneven ground.
HSE inspector David Welsh said: "The use of a vehicle-mounted cherrypicker for work at height needs to be properly planned and organised. The council failed to assess the risks of the tree-pruning work and provided unsuitable mats for the stabiliser feet, which led to an unsafe system of work being in operation.
"A cherrypicker is specialist lifting equipment for work at height and the council did not have a lifting plan in place for its general use for tree pruning, despite the dangers of using such lifting equipment being well-known."
City of Bradford Metropolitan Council appeared at Bradford Magistrates' Court on 25 June and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974. It was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £9623 in costs. - See more at: http://www.shponline.co.uk/home/in-court/full/worker-plunged-11-metres-from-overturning-cherrypicker#sthash.WORJpVJ5.dpuf
Two council workers were pruning dead branches in Bierley Hall Woods when the incident took place on 27 July last year. They parked the cherrypicker correctly on a compacted path in the woods and placed ground mats underneath the vehicle's stabiliser feet.
One of the workers then stood in the cradle as it was extended to 35 feet above the ground, so he could begin pruning the branches. As he rotated the boom arm and cradle anti-clockwise to move from tree to tree, the weight distribution of the machine changed and the cherrypicker overturned, causing him to fall 11 metres to the ground.
The 23-year-old suffered fractures to his spine, collarbone, pelvis and right leg, and also sustained internal injuries that required surgery. He was unable to return to work for more than five months and is no longer able to carry out tree work at height.
The HSE investigated the incident and found the council had supplied the wrong type of ground mats. As a result, when the vehicle's weight shifted, one of the stabiliser feet slid off a mat and sunk into the soft ground, causing the vehicle to overbalance.
The investigation also found the work hadn't been properly planned and the council had failed to train workers to carry out tree work on soft, sloping, or uneven ground.
HSE inspector David Welsh said: "The use of a vehicle-mounted cherrypicker for work at height needs to be properly planned and organised. The council failed to assess the risks of the tree-pruning work and provided unsuitable mats for the stabiliser feet, which led to an unsafe system of work being in operation.
"A cherrypicker is specialist lifting equipment for work at height and the council did not have a lifting plan in place for its general use for tree pruning, despite the dangers of using such lifting equipment being well-known."
City of Bradford Metropolitan Council appeared at Bradford Magistrates' Court on 25 June and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974. It was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £9623 in costs. - See more at: http://www.shponline.co.uk/home/in-court/full/worker-plunged-11-metres-from-overturning-cherrypicker#sthash.WORJpVJ5.dpuf
Bradford
Council has admitted failing to adequately plan work at height
following an incident where a worker fell from the cradle of a
cherrypicker.
Two council workers were pruning dead branches in Bierley Hall Woods when the incident took place on 27 July last year. They parked the cherrypicker correctly on a compacted path in the woods and placed ground mats underneath the vehicle's stabiliser feet.
One of the workers then stood in the cradle as it was extended to 35 feet above the ground, so he could begin pruning the branches. As he rotated the boom arm and cradle anti-clockwise to move from tree to tree, the weight distribution of the machine changed and the cherrypicker overturned, causing him to fall 11 metres to the ground.
The 23-year-old suffered fractures to his spine, collarbone, pelvis and right leg, and also sustained internal injuries that required surgery. He was unable to return to work for more than five months and is no longer able to carry out tree work at height.
The HSE investigated the incident and found the council had supplied the wrong type of ground mats. As a result, when the vehicle's weight shifted, one of the stabiliser feet slid off a mat and sunk into the soft ground, causing the vehicle to overbalance.
The investigation also found the work hadn't been properly planned and the council had failed to train workers to carry out tree work on soft, sloping, or uneven ground.
HSE inspector David Welsh said: "The use of a vehicle-mounted cherrypicker for work at height needs to be properly planned and organised. The council failed to assess the risks of the tree-pruning work and provided unsuitable mats for the stabiliser feet, which led to an unsafe system of work being in operation.
"A cherrypicker is specialist lifting equipment for work at height and the council did not have a lifting plan in place for its general use for tree pruning, despite the dangers of using such lifting equipment being well-known."
City of Bradford Metropolitan Council appeared at Bradford Magistrates' Court on 25 June and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974. It was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £9623 in costs. - See more at: http://www.shponline.co.uk/home/in-court/full/worker-plunged-11-metres-from-overturning-cherrypicker#sthash.WORJpVJ5.dpuf
Two council workers were pruning dead branches in Bierley Hall Woods when the incident took place on 27 July last year. They parked the cherrypicker correctly on a compacted path in the woods and placed ground mats underneath the vehicle's stabiliser feet.
One of the workers then stood in the cradle as it was extended to 35 feet above the ground, so he could begin pruning the branches. As he rotated the boom arm and cradle anti-clockwise to move from tree to tree, the weight distribution of the machine changed and the cherrypicker overturned, causing him to fall 11 metres to the ground.
The 23-year-old suffered fractures to his spine, collarbone, pelvis and right leg, and also sustained internal injuries that required surgery. He was unable to return to work for more than five months and is no longer able to carry out tree work at height.
The HSE investigated the incident and found the council had supplied the wrong type of ground mats. As a result, when the vehicle's weight shifted, one of the stabiliser feet slid off a mat and sunk into the soft ground, causing the vehicle to overbalance.
The investigation also found the work hadn't been properly planned and the council had failed to train workers to carry out tree work on soft, sloping, or uneven ground.
HSE inspector David Welsh said: "The use of a vehicle-mounted cherrypicker for work at height needs to be properly planned and organised. The council failed to assess the risks of the tree-pruning work and provided unsuitable mats for the stabiliser feet, which led to an unsafe system of work being in operation.
"A cherrypicker is specialist lifting equipment for work at height and the council did not have a lifting plan in place for its general use for tree pruning, despite the dangers of using such lifting equipment being well-known."
City of Bradford Metropolitan Council appeared at Bradford Magistrates' Court on 25 June and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974. It was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £9623 in costs. - See more at: http://www.shponline.co.uk/home/in-court/full/worker-plunged-11-metres-from-overturning-cherrypicker#sthash.WORJpVJ5.dpuf
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