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Haldane Fisher has been fined £380,000 after one of its staff members fell and suffered a brain injury while working at its Walsall site; pleading guilty to breaching Sections 2 (1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
The incident occurred when Timothy Bates was delivering fuel for a temporary generator at the builder’s merchants timber processing site which caused Bates to fall from a trailer on July 28 2022.
The Haldane Group commented: “We were very sorry to learn of the injuries Mr Timothy Bates incurred on our GE Robinson site in July 2022. We have liaised fully with the HSE on this matter, engaged with industry experts and have implemented all major recommendations, we strive for continual improvement in all areas of our business and we continue to take health and safety very seriously.”
The company was fined £380,000 and ordered to pay £5,934.50 in costs at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on March 1 2024.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector, Heather Campbell, said: “This case highlights the dangers arising from inadequate management of workplace transport. It also highlights the requirements to ensure the safety of non-employees including contractors at employer’s sites.”
Following this, the incident was investigated and it found that Haldane Fisher, trading as GE Robinson at the time, failed to establish safe working systems for fuel delivery to temporary generators at its site.
Bates was organising equipment in a trailer attached to his vehicle when a forklift truck, reversed into and collided with his vehicle.
The investigation noted that the separation between vehicles and pedestrians in the yard was noted, and no measures were in place to prevent incidents of this nature from happening.
