Overhead crane crushed worker against new chimney

摘要

A company that designs and manufactures resistive and superconducting electromagnets has been fined ￡400,000 with costs of ￡7,546, after an overhead gantry crane killed an employee. The fine equates to 8.6% of the most recent pre-tax profit made by the company, Tesla Engineering. On 23 March 2018, Dr Craig McEwan, a unit manager, was testing a super conducting magnet coil at the Water Lane Industrial Estate in Storrington, Sussex. Dr McEwan climbed the steps to the top of a tank to investigate a problem with the resin that was being poured into the tank. He then accessed a metal chimney that had recently been fitted to the top of the tank, but was crushed against the chimney by the moving Demag gantry crane. He was aged 34. The HSE found that the chimney extension had increased the height that workers had to access, which meant they could come into contact with the crane. Despite this, Tesla Engineering had not assessed the risks of the change or implemented measures to prevent the crane operating while workers were in an area where it could strike them. The HSE served an improvement notice on 23 April 2018 requiring a risk assessment of any work close to the crane and the establishment of safe systems of work for situations where people might come into contact with the crane's bridge girder.