Garage fined £120K after apprentice accidentally ran over colleague

Health and safety failure left technician with horrific injuries when an 18-year-old apprentice ran him over

Garage fined £120K after apprentice accidentally ran over colleague
Hospitalised for five weeks: Father-of-four, Stuart Currey.

Father-of-four, Stuart Currey has had to learn to walk again after he was left in excruciating pain when a teenage apprentice ran him over while standing in the garage pit.

Preston Crown Court heard how it was customary at the garage for employees to drive over the pits while colleagues were in them – and those colleagues would duck down as vehicles drove over them.

Stuart was clearing his tools when he was hit and dragged ten metres before the 18-year-old driver heard his cries for help and stopped.

Colleagues used a jack to lift the vehicle off Stuart before he was airlifted to hospital with fractures to his right shoulder, pelvis, spine, hip and ribs.

He is now left with one leg shorter than the other and is forced to use a wheelchair or crutches.

Bosses at Pye Motors were fined £120,000 with £9,209 costs after admitting breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

‘Clear risk’

Passing sentence, Judge Robert Altham said: “Mr Currey describes in a statement he was struggling to breathe and feared there and then he would die.

“Despite there being a clear risk of working in and around pits, there was no risk assessment addressing that risk whatsoever.

“Another employee indicated it became customary to drive over the pits when people were in them.

“The procedure was people would simply duck down as vehicles drove over.

“The defendant company has now implemented procedures to address the risks posed.

“This was a life-altering incident for Mr Currey and his immediate family.”

2 Comments

  1. Very unfortunate accident due to having no risk assessment for the workshop as garages can be dangerous places to work. I myself had a car fall on me from standing height when I was replacing parts. The o/s/r support arm became unbalanced when the jacking point collapsed. I broke three ribs, punctured a lung, fractured my hip socket and had a triple fracture of my pelvis, along with large cuts to my skull. The company has full employee indemnity insurance but I am having to fight them in court as they do not want to pay out, citing that I must be to blame. Any just thought people would like to know insurance company’s do not want to pay at any cost. Regards Steve Rees. I would welcome your comment on this.

    Reply
  2. Very unfortunate accident due to having no risk assessment for the workshop as garages can be dangerous places to work. I myself had a car fall on me from standing height when I was replacing parts. The o/s/r support arm became unbalanced when the jacking point collapsed. I broke three ribs, punctured a lung, fractured my hip socket and had a triple fracture of my pelvis, along with large cuts to my skull. The company has full employee indemnity insurance but I am having to fight them in court as they do not want to pay out, citing that I must be to blame. Any just thought people would like to know insurance company’s do not want to pay at any cost. Regards Steve Rees. I would welcome your comment on this.

    Reply

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