A north-east energy firm has been fined after an employee was trapped under a two-tonne machine.
Sales manager David McCafferty was crushed under the metalworking machine as he and colleagues attempted to unload and install it in Hunting Energy Service Ltd’s new apprentice training area last year.
The incident left him with a broken thigh bone – which required surgery to fit a metal plate – a broken right femur, three fractured vertebrae and bruising.
Yesterday Hunting Energy Service admitted breaching the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998, leading to the accident on July 14.
The firm, based at Badentoy Industrial Estate, Portlethen, accepted it had failed to ensure that the lifting, transportation and lowering of three machines from a lorry to the workshop had been properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out safely.
As a result, one of the machines became unstable as it was lowered and fell over, hitting Mr McCafferty and pinning him to the floor to his severe injury.
Sheriff John Rafferty said “common sense” should have made the “danger and high degree of risk” obvious, and fined the firm £3,600.
In her narrative, fiscal depute Shona Nicholsoni’ve worded it like this because she didn’t read it out to court, just handed it to sheriff, defence and us said the firm had ordered the new machines, but then discovered they would not be installed on delivery.
Instead of waiting just three days for their usual specialist contractor to assist, the Hunting team decided to proceed on their own.
The group used an overhead crane to put the 7ft machines into rough position, and then they were put on skates and pushed into place. To reposition them, they were raised up on jacks so the skates could be reorientated.
But on their third attempt, the team became aware the machine was not level and it began to fell.
Ms Nicholson added: “Mr McCafferty recalls being beside the machine, hearing (machine shop manager) Christopher Dow shout and then the machine tipping over towards him, he put his hands up but it was so fast he could not get out of the way and the machine struck him on the body and pinned him to the floor.”
Firefighters freed Mr McCafferty from the machine, and he spent two weeks in hospital.
Once home, he was confined to his bedroom for a month as he could not manage the stairs, and up until January he had to wear a rigid leg brace. He has now left the company – who have supported him in his recovery – and is working from home.
The fiscal depute told the sheriff: “Prior to the incident Mr McCafferty was a very active man who enjoyed a number of sporting activities, gardening and DIY in his home.
“He is unable to completely any of his usual sporting activities and is unsure if he will be able to return to these in the future.”
Defence counsel Mark Donaldson told the court the incident was “isolated” and was not an indication to Hunting’s attitude to safety.
He said there had perhaps been an “assumption about the simplicity” of the task, adding: “This was a matter where perhaps the enthusiasm of those involved at a senior level to get the training area set up took over.
“In hindsight they have recognised they allowed their enthusiasm for this project to cloud their project.”
Hunting Energy Services declined to comment on the case last night.