Sheffield Countryside Conservation Trust (SCCT) was sentenced for safety breaches after a 46-year-old woman was knocked unconscious by a falling tree and her four-year-old grandson received minor head injuries.
Sheffield Magistrates’ Court heard how, on 11 December 2017, SCCT was tree felling in Truman Road, Stocksbridge. The tree was being felled by chainsaw with the assistance of a winch and when the last cut was applied, instead of it falling in the expected direction, it twisted out of control and fell onto the lane. The tree came to rest on the site boundary wall and a security gate on the other side of the lane. At the time the woman and her grandson were walking up the lane and two were injured by the falling tree. The woman’s five-year-old granddaughter, also present, was uninjured.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the characteristics of the particular tree were not properly assessed prior to felling and the tree did not fall in the intended direction. The method used for felling this size and shape of tree was not the correct one. A different method was needed because of its shape and angle of lean. Site supervision was also inadequate. The work on the day of the incident was poorly organised and effective measures had not been taken to prevent members of the public entering the danger zone.
Sheffield Countryside Conservation Trust of Wood Lane Countryside Centre, Stannington, Sheffield pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The trust has been fined £3,000.00 and ordered to pay £1,000.00 in costs.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Eddy Tarn commented: “Use of signs and banksmen to warn members of the public should have been in place.
“This incident could have easily been prevented if a site-specific risk assessment and method statement had been used”
Notes to Editors:
- The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We 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. www.hse.gov.uk[1]
- More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: www.legislation.gov.uk/ [2]
- Please see the link below to the page on HSE’s website that is the best guide to doing it the right way: http://www.hse.gov.uk/treework/site-management/public-access.htm
- HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk[3]
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