Bus firm Alexander Dennis fined over worker injury

The company was told it should have trained staff properly in the task

A Falkirk bus builder has been fined £50,000 after a worker was injured by a steel floor platform which slipped while being lifted into position.

Samuel Murray, from Plains, North Lanarkshire, was working in a welding bay at Alexander Dennis when he was injured by the 120kg platform.

The 56-year-old suffered a deep cut to the chin and broken teeth after the incident on 16 September 2009.

The firm pled guilty to breaching the Health and Safety Act.

Falkirk Sheriff Court heard that Mr Murray was off work for 10 weeks after the steel platform slipped from a forklift truck. The cut on his chin had to be stitched and he required emergency dental treatment for four broken teeth.

A forklift truck driver placed extensions on the forks to move the platform but did not properly secure them or the load he was carrying, the court was told.

'Foreseeable incident'

Following the incident, a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found Alexander Dennis Ltd had not properly assessed the risks in transporting, handling and positioning floor platforms onto bus chassis.

Inspectors found workers simply relied on the weight of the platform as the only way of securing it to the forklift truck while transporting it.

The HSE investigation also revealed the company had not provided employees with a safe system of work for the operation.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Matthew Ramsey said: "This incident was entirely foreseeable and if Alexander Dennis Ltd had taken simple steps to identify the hazards in carrying out this routine lifting task it would never have happened.

"Moving the floor platforms and placing them on to the bus chassis was a regular task.

"Alexander Dennis Ltd should have ensured that their workers had been trained on a safe way of carrying out this routine operation."