The Right Tools for the Job

We all know that just about any job in the world can be done with a screwdriver and if not then the infamous Brummie screwdriver normally does the trick. That’s a hammer for those not from around here! In all seriousness though, a case bought to court recently by the Health and Safety Executive highlight the importance of why using the right tool for the job is so important and why using the wrong one can have serious consequences.

On January 12th Swindon magistrates heard how a construction company worker suffered a broken back whilst installing fencing on the Longleat Estate in Warminster. Despite the Method Statement stipulating the use of a post driver, and one being on its way to site, fence posts were being installed by using a digger bucket to push them into the ground. Whilst the employee in question was holding one of these posts, the top split and the bucket jumped sideways hitting him in the shoulder and causing a broken vertebrae. He spent over a week in hospital and is still in pain.

An HSE spokesman said “Workers have a right to expect that the equipment they use is appropriate for the task – on this occasion the equipment used was clearly not suitable for the job.”

As a result of this incident the company involved was fined £1,500 and ordered to pay costs of £1,117 after pleading guilty to a single breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.