County Antrim engineering firm fined after employee suffers serious injuries in workplace accident

A County Antrim engineering company has been fined £10,000 after a worker suffered severe foot injuries during an unsafe lifting operation at its Coleraine premises.

Maine Surface Finishing Ltd was sentenced today at Laganside Crown Court, Belfast, after earlier pleading guilty to a single health and safety offence following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI).

The court heard that the incident took place on 29 August 2023, when an employee attempted to move a 700kg metal frame from one area of the workshop to another using an overhead crane.

The frame had been attached using a fabric sling, which sheared against the sharp edge of the metal.

The failure caused the heavy frame to fall directly onto the operator’s left foot. The worker was taken to hospital, where it was discovered that the damage was so severe it resulted in partial amputation of four toes.

Prosecutors from the PPS’s Fraud & Departmental Section worked closely with HSENI throughout the case to prepare a robust prosecution.

HSENI Inspector Kevin Campbell highlighted employers’ legal responsibilities, stating:

“Employers have a legal duty to ensure employees and others are not put at risk during lifting operations, when components are being transferred and moved about the workplace.”

The HSENI investigation found significant failings in the company’s safety arrangements. The team responsible for selecting and securing the sling to the frame had not received crane or slinging training.

Additionally, there was no night-shift supervisor with the necessary competence in crane and sling arrangements or lift planning.

Inspector Campbell stressed the importance of proper planning and training:

“Employers must ensure they complete an adequate risk assessment of the work process and implement proper controls to prevent harm to their workers. Workers must be adequately and appropriately trained to ensure they are competent to perform the range of tasks they are required to do.

“The law requires that every lifting operation involving lifting equipment needs to be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out in a safe manner.

“HSENI will not hesitate to recommend the prosecution of businesses and individuals who are found to have failed in the provision of safe working conditions for their employees.”

Maine Surface Finishing Ltd was fined for breaching Article 4(1) of the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978, an offence relating to employers’ general duty to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of employees.

HSENI has reminded employers that the HSE Approved Code of Practice ‘Safe Use of Lifting Equipment’ provides essential guidance on planning lifting operations, equipment selection, maintenance and supervision.

The document is available to download free of charge via the Health and Safety Executive website.