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20 April 2005 - Risk Assessment Could Have
Prevented Nottingham Paint-shop Fatality
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A fatality at a Nottingham paint-shop, (Leadmaster Ltd) could
have been prevented had correct training, supervision and risk assessment been
done correctly said an HSE Inspector.
The victim of the incident, Mr. Robert Fountain, aged 60, was a
new recruit within the company and had been spray-painting a 300kg fabricated
steel grid, which was hanging from a forklift truck. The grid fell
on him, trapping him against a steel table. Mr. Fountain was later
found by his son Jason.
The company admitted to the charge at the Magistrates Court,
under Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and fined the
maximum sum of £20,000, with costs of £2,922.
Mr. David Appleton, HSE Inspector, said of the incident:
"This was a tragic incident involving a newly recruited
employee whom the company had not trained and supervised properly. It would have
been simple and cheap to prevent this death by carrying out a risk assessment
and making sure everyone involved knew how to do the job safely.
"This tragedy underlines that simply planning a job and
thinking it through is often the most important way of making sure it's done
safely. A few minutes' forethought in this situation could have saved Mr
Fountain's life."
Article by Alexandra Johnston
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