Sheffield firm fined £60,000 after worker's leg amputated after crushing accident

Wayne Hatton was on a night shift at Amber Precast Ltd’s factory on 14 January 2021 when the 800kg pallet fell on him.

Mr Hatton, from Doncaster, had his right lower leg amputated and two toes on his left foot were also removed. He now has a prosthetic leg.

The pallet was being removed from a reinforced concrete cast when it fell onto the father-of-two, who had only recently been employed by the firm as a supervisor.

A Health and Safety Executive investigation found the pallet had not been secured onto the lifting chains of the overhead crane before being removed from the cast.

Mr Hatton, now 50, and other workers in his team, hadn’t been given any instructions on how to remove the pallet safely.

Amber Precast Ltd pleaded guilty to a breach of health and safety and was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,406 at Sheffield Magistrates.

HSE inspector Jane Fox said the incident could have been easily avoided: “Amber Precast Ltd left its employees to work out their own methods of completing the pallet removal task, instead of providing them with suitable training and equipment so it could be done safely every time.”