Hydraulics company fined after man's leg amputated

A national hydraulics company has been fined almost £100,000 after an employee's legs were trapped in a machine led to one being amputated.

David Lawrence, 63, an engineer for Pearson Hydraulics Ltd, was working in Plymouth on 26 July 2023 when he was trapped when a cutting bed of the machine he was using dropped.

After spending five weeks in hospital, Mr Lawrence had his right leg amputated above the knee and faces the possibility of having his left leg amputated in the future.

Pearson Hydraulics Ltd appeared at Plymouth Magistrates' Court on 13 March and pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety laws and was fined £96,333 and ordered to pay £10,701 in costs.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found Pearson Hydraulics Ltd did not have a safe system of work in place for maintenance activities carried out by its engineers at its customer's premises.

It also found it failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of the work to be undertaken by Mr Lawrence and the investigation said there had been a "total failure to monitor and supervise his work".

The investigation also identified Mr Lawrence had not been adequately trained by his employer and that his knowledge of hydraulic systems on laser cutting machinery was inadequate, preventing him from carrying out the work safely.

HSE inspector Emma O'Hara said: "This incident could so easily have been avoided with the correct risk assessment and implementation of a safe working procedure."

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