Firm fined for Lancashire Cricket accident

A WARRINGTON demolition firm has been fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £12,000 in costs after part of a stand at Old Trafford Cricket Ground collapsed onto an excavator driver.

The 33-year-old worker from Warrington, who has asked not to be named, suffered serious injuries when a two-tonne concrete slab landed on his vehicle’s cab.

Warrington-based Excavation and Contracting (UK) was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following an investigation into the incident on April 26, 2011, at the ground which is home to Lancashire County Cricket Club.

Trafford Magistrates’ Court heard the company had been hired to demolish a two-tier stand at the stadium. However, the work had not been planned properly and the excavator had been positioned too close to the stand being demolished.

The worker sustained fractures to both legs in several places and severe cuts and bruising when a four-metre wide slab fell from the upper floor onto his vehicle.

Excavation and Contracting (UK) pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 by failing to ensure the safety of workers and failing to plan and carry out the demolition work safely.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Alan Pojur said: “The excavator driver was lucky not to have been killed when the two-tonne concrete slab collapsed onto his cab.

“His life was put in danger because Excavation and Contracting (UK) didn’t plan the work properly. They should have arranged for a high-reach excavator to be used so that the stand could be demolished from a safe distance away. It was only after the incident that this safe method of work was implemented.”