Nationwide Platforms, a powered access services and training provider, has been fined after a father-of-two was crushed to death in 2021
Lee Benham was working for Nationwide Platform Limited as a LGV driver when the incident occured on 4 November 2021.
The 45-year-old was operating a scissor lift from the ground, using it to clear an access path so he could move pieces of machinery out of the workshop and load it onto his lorry at Nationwide Platform’s workshop in Liskeard, Cornwall.
The controls were inverted on the scissor lift, meaning that when Lee operated the machinery, it instead came towards him and crushed him against another scissor lift.
The risks of using moveable controls to operate machinery were not considered
The HSE investigation into the incident found Nationwide Platforms Limited failed to sufficiently consider the dangers of operating machinery via moveable controls, and failed to provide appropriate monitoring and supervision during the morning when drivers were loading machinery onto their lorries.
Nationwide Platforms Limited, of Central Park, Lutterworth, Leicestershire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £900,000 and ordered to pay £12,405 in costs at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court on 21 December 2023.
Lee Benham with his wife Kelly and two children
HSE inspector Simon Jones said: “This was a tragic incident and a stark reminder to businesses to be thorough in their risk assessment. The situation which led to Lee’s death would not have arisen had appropriate control measures been in place.”
Lee’s wife Kelly Benham said: “Lee was my soulmate, my best friend, my rock. Now I have nothing apart from my girls. There are no words that can describe when you have had your heart ripped out. Our lives are in pieces, and it is just the three of us now.”
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