Willowbrook fined for plant accident

Portsmouth-based Willowbrook Property Services has been fined £4,000 following an incident that saw a labourer lose a leg after being injured by an unqualified plant operator.

Labourer Lance Smith had his leg crushed while he was assisting a colleague in picking up one tonne of ballast from the rear of a tipper truck using a 7t excavator.

His colleague Jamie Collier-Baker, who was driving the excavator, swung the bucket unexpectedly, trapping Smith’s leg against a truck he had been standing on.

The Health and Safety Executive’s investigation showed that Collier-Baker had not attended a CITB training course and was not sufficiently skilled to be regarded as a plant operator.

Portsmouth-based firm Willowbrook was found guilty of breaching Regulations 4(2) and 17(3) of the Health and Safety at Work Act, for failing to ensure its plant was used in a safe manner by a trained driver.

Self-employed Collier-Baker pleaded guilty to Regulations 4(1) and 17(3) of the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996. He was fined £350.

Willowbrook Property Services is based on Osborne Road, Portsmouth. It is not connected to Leicester-based Willow Brook Property Services.