Stafford Borough Council fined £20k after worker was lucky not to have been killed in theatre injury
Stafford Borough Council has been fined £20,000 after a worker was lucky not to have been killed when a moveable ladder on wheels overturned at the town's Gatehouse Theatre.
Mark Elkin, aged 33, was in the caged working platform about 15ft (4.5 metres) high when a colleague manoeuvred it around the stage.
The unit, called a tallescope, overturned and Mr Elkin fractured the bottom of his spine, Stafford magistrates were told.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), prosecuting, said a suitable risk assessment had not been carried out for the use of the apparatus.
If it had, the manufacturer's instructions on a warning label stating it should not be rolled with people or materials on the platform should have been highlighted.
Two theatre employees were using the tallescope for high-level work involving stage curtains and a projector on July 16, 2014.
The court was told that the guidelines had been contravened on many previous occasions.
Stafford Borough Council, which runs the theatre, admitted breaching health and safety regulations, and was fined £20,000 with costs of £1,922 and a victim surcharge of £120.
Mr Elkin suffered a fracture to the right side of the sacrum – the bone at the base of the spine connected to the pelvis – and was unable to bear weight on his right leg for four weeks. He was unable to work for more than two months.
After the hearing HSE inspector Katherine Blunt said: "This accident was entirely preventable. The tallescope should not have been moved with anyone in the cage.
"This could very easily have been a fatality. As it is, Mr Elkin suffered serious injuries."
Council spokesman Will Conaghan said: "The council has worked closely with the Health and Safety Executive to improve our working at height safety procedures to ensure this type of accident does not happen again. We have supported Mr Elkin is his return to work and are pleased that he has made a good recovery."
