A government approved stock removal company has been fined £80,000 after an employee sustained a fractured skull at its site in Glasgow.
Grayshill Limited, a company specialising in the removal and disposal of fallen livestock, pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety regulation.
In addition to a fractured skull, the worker sustained a broken clavicle, a ripped earlobe and haematomas down his right side, a court heard.
An investigation found this was caused by being struck by a telehandler bucket while working at Grayshill Limited on 19 October 2022.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) concluded that the firm had failed to implement a safe system of work for the use of quick hitches on the telehandler.
The worker had been removing cattle from the back of a lorry when the telehandler bucket became detached and struck him.
A quick hitch is a latching device that enables, in this case, the bucket, to be connected to the arm of the telehandler and changed quickly.
A manual quick hitch requires an operator to manually insert a metal pin from the latching device to secure the attachment.
On the morning of 19 October 2022, a self-employed agricultural engineer had serviced the telehandler, which included removing the bucket, but he did not correctly reattach it onto the telehandler after the service was complete.
The health and safety watchdog's investigation found that the securing pin for the quick hitch had not been reinserted.
HSE principal inspector Hazel Dobb said this was a serious incident that had resulted in a worker sustaining horrific injuries.
She said: "We thoroughly investigated this incident and found Grayshill failed to carry out the correct control measures and safe working practices at its site in Glasgow.
"The company also failed to check its vehicles after they had been serviced and repaired to ensure they were safe for use.”
Grayshill Ltd, of Mollins Road, Cumbernauld, Glasgow, pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
The company was fined £80,000 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £6,000 at Airdrie Sheriff Court on 28 October 2024.
