Hewden Crane Hire of the UK was fined £60,000 with £2,800 costs in early May after admitting a breach of the health and safety regulations which led to the death of a workman in January 2000.
Brian Horne was being lowered in a man-basket, by crane, through the roof of a building at a quarry in Derbyshire. Two safety bolts on the the basket came undone, the door swung open, and Horne fell approximately 9m to the ground.
Derby Crown Court heard that the accident could have been triggered by Horne’s clothing becoming snagged on a bolt. The Health & Safety Executive investigated the accident and found that the basket breached regulations by having an inward-hinging door and no restraining bolt to prevent opening. A vertical bolt near the floor had been improperly secured and a horizontal bolt had become unlocked as the crane lifted the basket. An external safety consultant had failed to point out the defect during a six-monthly visit three weeks previously.
Hewden Crane Hire immediately withdrew all similar man-baskets for modifications after the accident.
