Insider Media Limited

Environcom England, the electrical equipment recycler, has been ordered to pay more than £23,000 after a worker was injured at its Grantham plant.

Grantham Magistrates' Court heard how a Polish agency worker suffered bruising to his back and chest after an unsafe stack of appliances fell on him.

When the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the incident at the company's processing plant at Spittlegate Level, Grantham, that happened on 15 September 2009. It discovered appliances were piled five or six high, making the stacks unstable.

The incident was reported to HSE in late November but when an inspector visited the site on 3 December to investigate the incident, appliances were still stacked "dangerously high", said a report.

A Prohibition Notice was served immediately to prevent unsafe stacking.

Environcom England, headquartered in Spinningfields, Manchester, pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

The company was fined £7,000 for the offence on 15 September and £10,000 for the further offence on 3 December. The business was also ordered to pay full costs of £5,915.

HSE inspector Judith McNulty-Green said: "The worker was extremely fortunate not to have been more seriously hurt and the company could have done so many things to prevent his injuries.

"Heavy machines like cookers and washers should never have been stacked so high. If they had been stacked on their side it would have provided a broader and more stable base and stacking them against a wall would also have given much more stability."