Three companies, including Shell, Dalprop and Hertel, have been penalized and ordered to pay a fine amounting to £283,332 by a court, after their negligence caused a serious accident that resulted in a worker being paralyzed from the waist down.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) filed a lawsuit against Shell UK Oil Products Ltd, Dalprop Ltd (formerly S.G. Blair and Co. Ltd) and Hertel UK Ltd after Stephen Rizzotti was seriously injured in an accident at Shell’s Stanlow refinery on February 9, 2007.
At the time of the incident, Rizzotti was working for Dalprop. The company was assigned to remove part of the concrete border of the ‘cracker’ unit, where crude oil is transformed into chemical components. Rizzotti, who now uses a wheelchair for movement, broke his legs, back and pelvis when a 500kg waste-carrying container fell down 30 feet and crushed him.
The hearing at Warrington Crown Court saw Shell and Dalprop accept responsibility for disregarding Regulation 8(1)(c) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998. Hertel, the company that raised the scaffolding and platforms, including the boards that threw off the container on Rizzotti, pleaded guilty to flouting Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
On January 4, 2010, Shell was ordered to pay £116,666 as fine and £16,204 as costs. Dalprop was asked to pay a fine of £83,333 and costs of £11,115. Hertel had to pay a fine amounting to £83,333 and costs to the tune of £16,204.
Written by Giles Kendrick
giles.kendrick@googlemail.com
iosh.workplacelaw.net/
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