As reported by the Door Hardware Federation, an electrical contractor has been fined £25,000 by the HSE and ordered to pay costs of £6,500 after a 40-year-old woman was fatally crushed by a rolling grille on a car park.
On Monday 10 June 2019, Peterborough Magistrates’ Court heard how, on 14 August 2016, Heidi Chalkley pressed the button to open the rolling grille at Ruth Bagnall Court, Cambridge. She then held onto the grille as it raised and became trapped as it wound around the roller, fatally crushing her body.
B.S. Graves (Electrical) Limited had carried out work on the roller shutter door since 2012, including an inspection only a month before the incident. The company did not check the operation of the safety sensors and failed to identify the fault. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the sensors at the top of the door, which should have stopped it, were incorrectly wired and no longer functioned as the door opened.
Michael Skelding, General Manager & Secretary for the Door Hardware Federation, states this ruling “yet again highlight[s]the importance of ensuring that maintenance is entrusted to companies which employ trained staff.”
CLICK HERE for more details regarding the incident and ruling.
