Dropped beam lands Corus in court

Prosecutions and Claims |
23.09.2008

Steelmaker Corus UK, trading as Corus Tubes, has admitted failing to ensure the safety of employees after a 1.7-tonne steel beam fell from an electro-magnetic crane and hit the operator. 

Crane operator Jonathan Laverick had been using a remote control to lift a raft of steel beams at the Corus Tubes site in Hartlepool, which manufactures welded steel tubes.  

A 16-metre-long beam caught the side of a building and fell to the ground, crushing Laverick. He suffered a broken leg, back injuries, broken ribs and a punctured lung and spent four weeks in an induced coma. He was unable to work for several months after the incident in April 2007. 

HSE inspector Bruno Porter said magnets can reduce certain risks in crane operations because they remove the need for workers to climb onto loads to sling and release them. But magnets can drop their loads for various reasons, so it's important there's nobody in the vicinity of the suspended load. 

In this case, Porter explained, "the combination of the length of the steel beams and the site layout meant there was no safe operating position." 

Hartlepool magistrates fined Corus Tubes £15,000 with £6248 costs after it admitted failing to take reasonable steps to ensure employees' safety, contrary to Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act. 

Dominic Adamson, for Corus, said the company had carried out a thorough investigation into the accident and expressed "sincere regret" about Laverick's injuries. 

He said the firm has now installed a gantry for crane operators to sit on.