Farm worker fatally injured by telehandler

A farming partnership has been fined after a farm worker was fatally injured following an incident involving a telehandler within the pig barn.

Weston Super Mare Magistrates’ Court heard how, on 17 October 2019, Mr Andrew Denning, a self-employed farm worker, was helping with the mucking-out and animal welfare checks inside a large pig shed.

Mr Denning was working in close proximity to a telehandler, fitted with a bucket, which was scraping the muck from the floor using multiple short manoeuvres.  Mr Denning was struck by telehandler and killed as it reversed.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that C M Stone failed to ensure a safe system of work. Staff working within the shed were not adequately segregated from the machine so far as was reasonably practicable.

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