Powys County Council has been prosecuted after an employee was badly injured at its depot in Ystradgynlais.
Llandrindod Wells Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday (5th March) that Andre ‘Dean’ Colamazza, 45, and his colleagues were moving large concrete barriers with a telehandler when the incident happened at the Abercraf depot on 12 June 2012.
An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) discovered that after one of the 2.5-tonne, three-metre barriers had been laid on wooden bearers, it toppled over and knocked Mr Colamazza to the ground, crushing his left leg.
He suffered three fractures and a shattered knee cap and was in hospital for five weeks.
The court heard how the workers were using inappropriate equipment for moving the barriers and had an unsafe system of work. The investigation found none of the employees asked to move the barriers had been trained to do so and that no risk assessment had been carried out by the council to determine a safe system of work.
Powys County Council did actually own special equipment for moving concrete barriers but it was kept at the premises of one of its contractors. The team at the Abercraf depot didn’t even know about it.
Powys County Council of County Hall, Spa Road, Llandrindod Wells, Powys, was fined a total of £24,000 and ordered to pay £13,528 in costs after pleading guilty to two breaches of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Sarah Baldwin-Jones said: “There is no excuse for employers failing to safeguard their workers. Had Mr Colamazza and his colleagues been properly trained to safely move the concrete barriers, using the correct equipment, and a proper risk assessment carried out by Powys County Council, this incident would not have occurred and Mr Colamazza would not have been seriously injured.”
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