A QUARRY company has been fined £30,000 after a trainee was hurt when his 30-tonne vehicle overturned and slid down an embankment.
The man was transporting sand across a quarry in North Cave when a ramp gave way, causing the machine to tip over and plunge 16ft down a sand pile.
The driver, who was being trained as a wheel loader operator, was knocked out and spent two days in
hospital after the accident at the sand and gravel extraction and processing facility on October 30 last year.
His employers, Humberside Aggregates and Excavations Ltd, of Newport Road, North Cave, East Yorkshire, admitted three separate breaches of Quarries Regulations at Beverley Magistrates' Court, and was also ordered to pay £10,590 in costs.
The Health and Safety Executive said edge protection barriers should have been in place and prosecuted the firm for failing to protect the worker and for failing to assess, identify and minimise potential risk.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Richard Noble said: "This accident could have been avoided had sufficient edge protection been put in place at minimal cost, which has been the standard within the quarrying industry for many years.
"Quarrying remains one of the most dangerous industries to work in. Since 2000, more than 3,000 workers have suffered an injury reportable to HSE and 24 people have been killed.
"Workplace transport is the industries biggest cause of fatal accidents within the industry, and that is why the industry and HSE work together in a joint advisory committee to introduce good practices for quarry operators."
He added: "We are working very hard to reduce these accidents and fatalities."
