Charity fined after injuries to member of the public

A charity has been fined after a member of the public lost her leg when she became trapped under a lorry carrying a fairground ride.

Peterborough Magistrates Court heard that, on 4 November 2015, a member of the public was struck by a lorry during the set up for the Bonfire Night 2015 Event on Midsummer Common. She suffered extensive injuries including a crush injury of her right leg which resulted in in amputation above the knee, a degloving injury to her lower abdomen and right leg, with open fractures of the right leg, fractured ribs and a collapsed lung.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Cambridge Live failed to put in place suitable controls to prevent members of the public from being struck by large vehicles. 

The company failed to organise safe workplace transport on Midsummer Common whilst setting up for the event, this meant that appropriate controls such as such as temporary barriers were not put in place to segregate vehicles and pedestrians.

Cambridge Live pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The charity was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,654.37. 

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Graeme Warden said: “This horrific accident could have been prevented had Cambridge Live identified and put in place better controls to ensure that members of the public could safely cross Midsummer Common whilst the Bonfire Night Event was being set up.

“The risks involved with workplace transport are well known and pedestrians being struck by large vehicles often results in death, or life-changing injuries, such as those suffered as a result of this incident.

“The risk assessment carried out by Cambridge Live prior to the event had identified the risks involved with a collision between pedestrians and large vehicles, but failed to set out suitable measures to prevent this from happening. On this occasion segregation between pedestrians and vehicles could have been achieved by using temporary barriers.”

Notes to Editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We seek to prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise. hse.gov.uk
2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: legislation.gov.uk/
3. HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk
4. Further information about workplace transport safety can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/pUbns/priced/hsg136.pdf