An employee was severely injured when he fell down a lift shaft and was crushed by the large cage he had been moving.
The workplace accident - which took place on the 20 June 2013 in Jedburgh, Scotland - occurred as a result of lift gates opening ahead of the lift platform reaching his level.
The worker, who was 62 years of age at the time of his accident, had been using one of three table lifts to move a loaded cage trolley weighing roughly 519kg.
From the upper level of the building, the worker could see that the lift gates were open; however, the lift platform had not reached the high floor.
The man leaned over to see what was happening and lost his balance. He fell almost two metres. This in itself was a traumatic and serious accident; however, the cage the man was transporting then fell into the shaft, trapping him underneath.
The cage crushed the worker's legs and caused severe injury. He sustained multiple fractures to his right hip and heel, and also suffered damage to his sciatic nerve, lower legs and knees. During surgery, four screws were inserted into the man's hip.
Following the incident, an immediate internal investigation was carried out by the man's employers, L S Starrett Company Ltd. Further use of table lifts was prohibited until interlocks and sensor switches were installed. This prevented lift doors from opening if the platform was not in position.
A Health and Safety Executive investigation found the company was in breach of Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) as it had failed to conduct a risk assessment of the table lifts, which could have prevented the accident from occurring.
The company was issued a fine of £3,000 upon pleading guilty to the health and safety breach.
Whether the employee will seek personal injury compensation is unknown.
