SPR Trailer Services fined after worker killed

SPR Trailer Services has been fined £120,000 after an employee suffered fatal head injuries.

Ipswich Crown Court heard how an employee at the Suffolk-based firm was operating a scissor-lift working platform when this was struck by a Long Goods Vehicle (LGV), causing him to be ejected onto a roadway from a height of 1.5 metres.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident, which occurred on January 23, 2015, found that SPR Trailer Services failed to plan and organise work at height in a manner that ensured the safety of their workers.

The work at height should have been organised to segregate activity in space and/or time from adjacent workplace transport operations.

SPR Trailer Services of Walton Avenue, Felixstowe, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Speaking after the case, HSE principal inspector Norman Macritchie said: “This was a tragic and wholly avoidable incident, caused by the failure of the company to implement and monitor safe systems of work.

“The company did not undertake the simple safety measure of segregating those working at height from adjacent workplace transport operations, in line with widely available industry guidance.”