An employee of Tunnel Tech Limited of Stockbridge, Hampshire, was dismantling polytunnel structures when the end bulkhead weighing 750kg fell on him causing injuries including a collapsed left lung, a ruptured diaphragm, displaced intestines, a broken pelvis, six rib fractures and fractures to his spine. He spent 10 days in intensive care and a further 15 days in hospital. He needed extensive rehabilitation and will need to wear specially modified footwear for the rest of his life. If it had not been for the quick response of the emergency services and the air ambulance, this could easily have resulted in a fatality.
Basingstoke Magistrate’s Court heard in July that on the day of the incident, the worker and three colleagues began to remove the cladding from the structures. They cut the side of the tunnel with a Stanley knife and pulled the outer layer and insulation off. It was decided that the internal steels would be removed first, leaving the internal hoop structure to remain. The structure had a layer of cladding on the inside then a layer of insulation inside a black plastic liner which in turn was covered with a waterproof liner. The men tried to pull this off but the sheet started to get quite hard to pull so one of the other men working suggested that they use the fork lift truck to pull the sheet off with a rope and the truck was driven away from the tunnel.
While the other men were at a safe distance from this operation, the injured worker was moving some materials on the ground between the tunnel that was being dismantled and a skip. The end of the tunnel, consisting of the gable wall and weighing 750kg was pulled from the hoop structure and struck the work causing his terrible injuries.
The Health and Safety Executive inspector, Andrew Johnson, said: “The likelihood of the bulkhead falling due to this work was entirely foreseeable and the company failed to ensure that the work was adequately assessed, planned and supervised. Had they sourced and properly appointed a specialist contractor to carry out the work then it is unlikely this incident would have occurred.” Tunnel Tech was fined £20,000 for the first breach of the regulations and £10,000 for each of the other two breaches – a total of £40,000. It was ordered also to pay costs of £1,809.