It’s All About Teamwork

The conclusion of a recent court case should serve to remind us that more often than not an incident arises from a combination of issues and likewise responsibility is not always with one person or company, but with numerous people or companies.

The case in question involved the tragic death of a worker at the Yorkshire Mining Museum, who was employed, in January 2011, to work on expansion of the museum's visitor experiences by extending underground access tunnels. Unfortunately, whilst operating a forward tipping dumper underground he suffered fatal entrapments and crush injuries.

The case was bought against three defendants, the museum, the contractor and the machine supplier. All were found to be in breach of their responsibilities, but the museums failings were deemed to be management failings and did not have a causative role in the incident.

The main contractor was found to have no risk assessments or safe working practices in place as well as not giving appropriate training to its staff. The machine suppliers were found guilty of supplying an unsafe machine as it did not comply with design standards or safety requirements.

The three companies were fined a total of nearly £600,000, plus of course their own costs. It cost the family of the worker a husband and father.

Very rarely do we work individually on a project, more likely we are part of a team, and it is imperative that we all work and communicate with all other parties to avoid this sort of tragedy occurring on one of our jobs.

Suggested courses which will help with promoting this teamwork are “Managing Demolition for Principal Contractors” and the “Site Management Safety Training Scheme” both available from C&D Training.