A worker was seriously injured on his first day working for an Aberdeen firm which makes and supplies agricultural machinery.
Jose Magano Ojeda (44), who’s originally from Spain, was working for Charles J Marshall (Aberdeen) Limited welding metal runners to the steel sheet bed of a trailer. To help him do this, another employee was using the forks of a fork lift truck to apply downward pressure to the metal runner to hold it flat and in place for welding.
Whilst Mr Magano Ojedo was welding, the fork lifted up and disengaged from the fork lift truck, striking and severely injuring him in March last year.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that the fork lift truck was being used for a purpose it was neither designed nor intended for and that safety measures designed to keep the fork in place were missing.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that Mr Magano Ojedo sustained a broken hip which required an operation to fit a metal plate.
Charles J Marshall (Aberdeen) Limited was fined £6,000 after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 4(3) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
HSE principal inspector Niall Miller said, “It is inherently unsafe to use equipment for purposes other than that it is designed and intended for. The failure of the company to find a safe way to apply pressure to metal bars for welding led to ad hoc and unsafe practices, and has in this case resulted in a worker being seriously injured. Mr Magano Ojedo continues to suffer physical discomfort and this incident has fundamentally altered the way he lives his life.”
