North East Fertiliser Company Fined
A North East fertiliser company has been fined after a worker was seriously injured when a 600kg bag of ammonium nitrate fell on him.
32 year old employee was part of a team clearing up a spillage after several bags of ammonium nitrate fell from a stack at a Fertiliser warehouse in Middlesbrough.
One operative was sweeping up the spilled ammonium nitrate, while the claimant, also from Middlesbrough, hooked the fallen bags onto the arms of a forklift truck.
The men were working near the remaining stack of bags which was stacked three high and had noticed that two bags on the third layer were leaning to one side. After he hooked up the last of the fallen bags to the forklift truck, he turned around with his back to the stack.
One of the bags from the third layer fell and struck him on the back, forcing him over and causing him to strike his head on the floor. He suffered a serious back injury, a fractured right thigh and ligament damage to his left leg.
He was in hospital for three weeks following the incident, had to wear a back brace for five months and later underwent surgery on his back. He has not been able to return to work since the 29 April 2008 incident due to ongoing back pain and limited movement.
The company was eventually fined a total of £10,500 and ordered to pay £12,411.45 in costs after pleading guilty to two offences, of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Updated on 9/13/2011