The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned of the dangers of allowing cranes to operate over the heads of employees. This followed the prosecution of a Liverpool-based company, after a man was killed and another seriously injured when they were struck by a load that fell from a crane. Prefab site accommodation specialists MRX Engineering Support Services, trading as Stackright Building Systems, were fined a total of £116,941 at Liverpool Crown Court, for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Welder Keith Wharton was killed instantly and his colleague Christopher Cansfield sustained severe injuries including a broken neck and leg in the incident on 8 March 2007. The court heard how a steel lifting frame weighing more than half a ton fell from an overhead crane. There was no safety catch on the hook of the crane, which could have prevented the load from falling. In addition, the company should not have allowed loads to be moved over peoples' heads and the crane operators had not been adequately trained in its safe use.
HSE inspector Iain Evans who investigated the accident said, "Keith Wharton should not have died. His was an avoidable, pointless and unnecessary death in an environment where there were numerous safety issues. If the company which employed him had dutifully exercised its responsibility to ensure his safety, his family would not be here at court today grieving their loss."
