Turbine company fined £600k after worker paralysed

A wind turbine company has been fined £600,000 after a worker was left paralysed from the waist down following a "wholly avoidable incident" at its Hull factory.

Two members of staff were building part of a turbine blade at the Siemens Gamesa site in Alexandra Dock in July 2024 when the structure they were working on collapsed, resulting in a 37-year-old woman suffering "serious, life-changing injuries", the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said.

An investigation by the HSE found that support poles which had been holding it in place had been removed.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety at work laws at Grimsby Magistrates' Court on 22 May.

The HSE said that the firm "failed to adequately assess the risks arising from the work; failed to devise and implement a robust safe system of work to prevent employees from removing the support poles; and failed to adequately train employees in safe working methods".

It added: "As a result, employees adopted unsafe practices to complete the task."

The agency said that since the incident, a new system had been introduced where "support poles are locked in place and can only be unlocked by a nominated person holding the key".

HSE inspector Mark Slater said: "In this case, inadequate risk assessment and inadequate systems of work left employees to adopt their own working methods, exposing them to an unacceptable level of risk.

"This was a wholly avoidable incident."

Following the case, Siemens said in a statement: "We would like to express our sincere and profound regret for the incident that occurred in July 2024 and the injuries sustained by our employee.

"As a business, we have taken this incident extremely seriously and carried out an extensive review to learn from what happened.

"The health and safety of our employees is our top priority, and we are committed to maintaining a safe working environment for all."

Listen to highlights fromHull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, and watch the latest episode of Look Northor tell us about a story you think we should be coveringhere.

Download the BBC News app from the App Storefor iPhone and iPad orGoogle Play for Android devices