Incident sees quarry operator finedAn incident which saw a 30-tonne wheel loader vehicle overturn and slide almost 16ft down a sand stockpile has cost a quarry operator £30,000.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Humberside Aggregates and Excavations Ltd, which pleaded guilty to three separate breaches of the Quarries Regulations 1999. The firm based in Newport Road, North Cave, East Yorkshire, was also ordered to pay costs of £10,590.
Beverly Magistrates' Court heard that an employee, who does not wish to be identified, was being trained as a wheel loader operator at North Cave Quarry, the firm's sand and gravel extraction and processing facility.
On October 30 last year, he was transporting sand from a stockpile when the access ramp edge he was driving on gave way, which caused the machine to overturn and plunge almost 16ft because there were no edge protection barriers in place. The trainee lost consciousness, suffered concussion and was hospitalised for two days. The HSE prosecuted Humberside Aggregates and Excavations for failing to assess, identify and minimise potential risk, and for ultimately failing to protect the worker.
Following the hearing HSE inspector Richard Noble said: "This accident could have been avoided had sufficient edge protection been put in place at minimal cost, which has been the standard within the quarrying industry for many years."
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