Bristol City Council prosecuted after worker was thrown from tractor

Safety failings led Bristol City Council being fined after a park keeper suffered serious injuries when she was thrown from a tractor as it overturned.

The 51 year-old worker, broke her pelvis and badly damaged an Achilles tendon in the incident occurred in Netham Park, Bristol on 30 May 2012. Her injuries led to her remaining off work for a year but has since returned and is now employed as an office worker.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation led to a prosecution yesterday (15 Jan) of Bristol City Council at the city’s Magistrates’ Court.

The court was told that the park keeper, who was carrying out maintenance work, was driving the tractor with a trailer attached and had braked as the tractor descended a slope. The vehicle began to skid and the driver turned to avoid a fence but it overturned, throwing her from the seat.

The tractor was not fitted with a seat belt or any type of restraint and the Council had failed to ensure their employee had received adequate training on the use of the tractor the HSE discovered.

The nearly new tractor and trailer had been acquired by Bristol City Council shortly before the incident but not within the normal procurement procedures and no supplier training was provided as a result, the investigation also revealed.

Bristol City Council was fined a total of £20,000 and ordered to pay £4,700 in costs after admitting two breaches of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Kate Leftly, said:

“This incident was entirely preventable and has caused the worker considerable suffering and distress. She had trained three years for her park keeper role but is now office-bound and will need further surgery on the tendon requiring a 12-18 month recovery”.

“Every year, there are accidents involving transport in the workplace, some of which result in people being injured or even killed. People fall from vehicles, are knocked down, run over, or crushed against fixed parts, plant and trailers”.

“Bristol City Council had inadequate systems in place to ensure operators were suitably trained in the use of this equipment and failed to identify the need for a suitable seat restraint.”