St Albans Magistrates’ Court

St Albans Magistrates’ Court heard Edwin Heaney failed to take reasonable care of colleagues while operating a construction site vehicle on a house build site on Loom Lane, Radlett, Hertfordshire. He used an excavator to raise a site worker to access work at height to cut a protruding piece of steel.

The court was told Mr Heaney left the operator’s cabin of the excavator, leaving the machine unattended whilst the worker continued to use a handheld grinder. The bucket suddenly jolted downwards throwing the worker off balance. He managed to throw the grinder clear and grabbed onto the adjacent wall to stop his fall. Another colleague then provided a ladder to allow him to get down safely.

The worker suffered a number of strain injuries, in particular to his right shoulder.

An investigation was carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and it was found that Mr Heaney had failed to take reasonable care for the health and safety of others, the excavator was not suitable equipment for lifting the worker and the bucket attachment was an inadequate work platform.

Edwin Heaney, 43, of How Wood, Park Street, Hertfordshire was fined £1,000 and was ordered to pay £3,130 in costs for breaching Section 7(a) of the Health and Safety at Work Act.