A man suffered serious crush injuries after a one-tonne dumper truck overturned on a construction site in Ince near Wigan. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation led to a company being fined £20,000 in court.
Incident details
The incident happened on October 10, 2022. The worker, aged 27 at the time, was reversing the truck when it entered an unprotected excavation and overturned. He was thrown from the vehicle as he was not wearing a seatbelt, sustaining crushing injuries to his leg, resulting in a broken foot and ankle.
Investigation findings
The HSE found that Jim Yates Limited had instructed workers not to wear seat belts while operating the dumper trucks. Operators routinely fastened the seat belt behind them before sitting on top of it, disabling the vehicle's seat belt warning system and giving the false impression the restraint was being worn correctly. The investigation also found open excavations on the site were not adequately protected to prevent vehicles from entering them.
Court sentencing
Jim Yates & Sons Limited, of Warrington Road, Risley, pleaded guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £4,824 in costs at Warrington Magistrates' Court on July 14.
HSE inspector statement
HSE Inspector Seve Gomez-Aspron MBE said: "Incidents involving workplace transport continue to cause death and life-changing injuries every year, and overturning remains one of the biggest risks when using dumper trucks. This incident was entirely foreseeable and could have been prevented. Suitable protection should have been in place to stop vehicles entering the excavation, and operators should never be instructed not to wear a seat belt." He added that seat belts are a vital safety feature that keep operators inside the protective zone of the vehicle's rollover protection structure, significantly reducing the risk of serious injury or death if a dumper overturns.
