Troubled global steelmaker Corus has been fined £100,000 after an overloaded mobile crane overturned.
On 4 September 2008, a crane operator was instructed to use a mobile crane to load steel blocks into a dumper. However, he had not been trained in how to use the crane and only had experience of operating overhead cranes. Although the machine had been fitted with safe working load alarms following stability concerns, they needed to be manually reset every time the crane was switched on. The worker was unaware of this and did not check that the alarms were operating.
The crane’s maximum load capacity was 10 tonnes and each steel block was to be lifted individually. However, during the first lift the crane’s magnet raised two of the blocks which put the load above that capacity and the burden toppled the crane. Fortunately, the worker escaped with only minor injuries.
HSE inspector Geoff Clark said, “This is a serious health and safety breach by a company that globally employs tens of thousands of people which could easily have led to people being killed. Today’s hearing highlights the importance of having an effective system in place for managing health and safety to stop easily avoidable incidents. In this case the measures in place were simply inadequate. In particular, there was a substantial failure to provide enough suitable training".
A spokesman for Corus said, "The company has significantly improved its health and safety performance in the last ten years, and continues to invest in health and safety initiatives. The company promptly implemented a number of enhancements to its training procedures and plant equipment to ensure a similar incident cannot happen again".
Unfortunately, it was the company's second prosecution in the space of two weeks. Earlier last month, Corus was reported to have been fined £5,000 after a worker suffered a broken leg while trying to clear a production line blockage.
For more information see:
