£30,000 fine after beam accident

A Yorkshire housing developer has been fined £30,000 after a young bricklayer was left quadriplegic when he was crushed by a steel beam.

Anton Burrows, 24, suffered extensive injuries during the incident at the Huddersfield site in April 2009 in which he was helping to guide a forklift driver who was placing the 300kg steel beam across two brick pillars.

Bradford Crown Court heard how the beam was dislodged as the truck pulled away, crashing down on top of Mr Burrows and leaving him paralysed from the chest down.

Mr Burrows was part of a bricklaying team that had been subcontracted to Strata Homes Yorkshire Ltd to carry out work at the Suede Development site in Oxley Road, Huddersfield.

The company, of Quay Point, Lakeside, Doncaster, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 8 of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £16,062 in costs.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Alasdair Green said: "Had the lifting operation been properly planned and supervised, in line with the regulations, the Approved Code of Practice and HSE’s guidance, this devastating incident which could have very easily killed someone, would have been avoided."