Bury Council has been fined £200,000 after a man was severely injured in front of horrified shoppers while installing the town’s Christmas tree.
Bury Council has been fined £200,000 after a man was severely injured in front of horrified shoppers while installing the town’s Christmas tree.
Bury Council employee James Lyth was using a scissor lift to straighten the 20ft-tall Christmas tree when it toppled over with him still in the basket.
The tree was being installed by an external company at Bury Market on November 21, 2022, in time for the town’s annual festivities at Christmas shopping destination. The 32-year-old operations manager suffered concussion and severe injuries to his right-hand side, including bruising to his ribs.
He needed an operation to his leg and was left using a wheelchair and crutches after sustaining a large cut.
Mr Lyth was off work for two months and was subsequently only able to return on restricted hours and duties as he continued his recovery. Bury Council said the ‘lessons learned’ from the incidnent have been addressed ‘at the most senior levels to ensure that there is no repeat’.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said working at height remains one of the leading causes of workplace injury and death. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Bury Council had failed to provide Mr Lyth with any training in the safe operation of the scissor lift and had failed carry out a sufficient risk assessment for this work activity.
The investigation also found that a suitable risk assessment of the work would have identified the dangers involved and the need to restrict the use of scissor
lifts to those with appropriate training. The council pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
It was fined £200,000 and were ordered to pay costs at a hearing at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on April 2. HSE inspector Leanne Ratcliffe said: “This was a very serious incident.
“It is important for industry to understand the importance of a risk assessment and training when using elevated platforms. “Access to these platforms should be limited to those trained and anyone who isn’t trained shouldn’t be allowed to use them.
“If this sort of work is not planned and controlled to a high degree, then there is a very high likelihood of a potentially fatal fall, or one resulting in very serious injury.”
A spokesman for Bury Council, said: “This was a very distressing and unfortunate incident that caused injury to one of our employees and was upsetting to passing shoppers.”
“The wellbeing of our staff is of the utmost priority, and we already had a number of policies in place to ensure their health and safety, as well as training requirements. “We accept, however, that our implementation of these procedures was not as rigorous as it should have been.
“Immediately following this incident, we carried out an urgent review of arrangements in relation to working at height, including training and equipment requirements. We also conducted a wider health and safety audit of Bury Market, and commissioned external consultants to carry out a comprehensive review of health and safety arrangements across the council as a whole.
“The council has a very good safety record, and we have of course co-operated fully with the HSE from the outset. “The lessons learned from this event have been addressed at the most senior levels to ensure that there is no repeat of this one-off incident.”
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