Electrician plummeted 35-feet from factory lift as firms at fault fined - Birmingham Live

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This is the shocking moment a worker fractured his skull plummeting 35-feet from a scissor lift. The electrician, who was repairing light fittings at Coventry firm Expert Tooling and Automation, was put into a medically induced coma following the distressing incident.

CCTV captured the Optilight Electrical Services Limited worker falling onto the hard floor of the factory, based in Sayer Drive. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) probe found both his firm and Expert Tooling were at fault.

Both were fined thousands of pounds following the incident on September 21, 2022. The 52-year-old sparky, from Sheffield, was in the cage of the scissor lift when a Expert Tooling worker began to operate a nearby overhead crane.

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The employee had not noticed the electrician in the lift, HSE said. The crane then collided with the lift causing it to twist and hit nearby racking before collapsing. The electrician fell from cage while it was crashing and hit his head on the floor.

A second worker at Optilight Electrical narrowly avoided being crushed by jumping out of the way of the lift before it hit the deck. The injured worker suffered a fractured skull, two bleeds on his brain and a broken collarbone.

He also broke eight rib bones, his elbow, and suffered a punctured lung. He was later placed in an induced coma and required several operations.

HSE investigators found that Optilight Electrical had not identified the operation of overhead cranes as a risk to its employees that were working at height at Expert Tooling’s site. Expert Tooling did not put procedures in place to prevent the use of overhead cranes while the work at height was taking place.

Expert Tooling instead relied on contractors identifying risks and implementing control measures, rather than ensuring procedures were already in place. Both firms failed to communicate to one another how the work they were undertaking could impact their staff’s safety at the site.

HSE guidance recommends implementing 'permit to work' systems for activities that require extra care. They're a more formal system stating exactly what work is to be done and when, and which parts are safe.

Expert Tooling, of Sayer Drive, Coventry, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. It was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay £1,985 in costs at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on April 29, 2024.

Optilight Electrical Services, of Oakwood Road, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. It was fined £7,000 and ordered to pay £1,985 in costs at the same court date.

HSE inspector Charlotte Cunniffe said: “This case clearly illustrates the disastrous consequences that can occur when two companies each assume the other has taken responsibility for safe working practices. Risk often arises through a failure to communicate effectively."