Crane repair business fined £30k by HSE
A SKELMSDALE-based crane maintenance company has been ordered to pay nearly £30,000 after two dock workers suffered injuries in a high voltage electric shock at the Seaforth Container Terminal in Liverpool.
Carrylift Materials Handling Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation revealed two workers wrongly believed that just 415 volts were running through a junction box on a crane platform six metres above the ground.
One of the men was temporarily blinded and both were burned in the 6,600 volt surge after climbing up a dockside crane to check the electricity supply in March 2008.
The company was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £14,568 in prosecution costs, after admitting three breaches of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.
Liverpool Magistrates’ Court heard that maintenance worker Lee McFadden was asked to look at the crane to investigate why there had been a power failure.
He decided he needed the assistance of an electrician to fix the fault and climbed back up on the crane platform with three electricians. All four men thought that it was a low voltage crane, similar to the one next to it, and had not been given any information or diagrams that said otherwise.
After undoing the bolts on the junction box, Mr McFadden used his low-voltage multimeter to test the electricity supply. There was an immediate flash and bang, causing him to be blinded for approximately 15 seconds.
Mr McFadden sustained severe burns to his face and hands, and was permanently scarred as a result. One of the electricians also suffered minor burns to his face.
The HSE investigation found that none of the men had received adequate training or been given sufficient information about the electricity supplies to the dockside cranes.
Dave Guyers, investigating inspector at HSE, said: “They should never have been allowed to work on the crane without being given proper information and training by their employer, and without confirmation that the power supply had first been cut.”
He added: “In this case, all four men were put at risk because their employer did not have procedures in place to ensure electrical work was carried out safely. Mr McFadden was very fortunate that this incident did not have more serious consequences.”
