Firm fined after saw falls on man
01/09/2010
A Yorkshire haulage firm whose employee was left brain damaged when a 290kg panel saw fell on his head has been fined £5,000.
The 49-year-old lorry driver, Nicholas Holmes, was delivering a batch of saws to the Saw Centre in Glasgow but had not been told how they were secured inside the vehicle.
When Mr Holmes, from Bradford, loosened the straps holding the machines in place, the whole load become unstable and one fell off the lorry and struck him on August 16, 2007. He now has permanent brain damage.
Investigators from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found his employers Joda Freight Limited, of Crosshills, West Yorkshire, did not have a reliable communication system in place to tell their lorry drivers details about different load stabilities.
Joda Freight Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and were fined £5,000 at Glasgow Sheriff Court.
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