A father-of-two was left permanently disabled after an 800kg steel pallet fell on him at work.
Wayne Hatton’s legs were crushed during a night shift at Amber Precast Ltd’s factory in Sheffield, back in January 2021. The Doncaster man needed his right lower leg amputated and also lost two toes on his left foot too.
The pallet was being removed from a reinforced concrete cast when it fell onto Mr Hatton, who had only recently been employed by the firm as a supervisor, at the factory at Davy Business Park. The then 46-year-old spent seven weeks in hospital and now has a prosthetic leg.
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Wayne Hatton with his son
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Image:
HSE News Desk)
Wayne now has a prosthetic leg
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Image:
HSE News Desk)
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the pallet had not been secured onto the lifting chains of the overhead crane before being removed from the concrete cast, meaning the pallet was not supported whilst being moved. The investigation also found Amber Precast Ltd failed to consistently implement a system of work to ensure the pallet could be removed safely.
Wayne, now 50, and other members on his team had not received any information or instructions on how to remove the pallet safely. Amber Precast Ltd, of Davy Business Park, Prince Of Wales Road, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act. The company was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay £5,406.31 in costs at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
Wayne lost his leg in the accident
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Image:
HSE News Desk)
HSE inspector Jane Fox said: “This incident could so easily have been avoided with the correct instruction and implementation of an agreed safe working procedure. Amber Precast Ltd left its employees to work out their own methods of completing the pallet removal task, instead of providing them with suitable training and equipment so it could be done safely every time.”