Port operator fined £1.8 Million

An Essex maritime terminal operator was fined £1.8 million and ordered to pay costs of £14,328 after a worker suffered serious injury, in June 2014, when his arm became wrapped around a powered capstan, while mooring an ocean-going vessel. The HSE investigation found that the defendant failed to suitably identify and control risk associated with the use of powered capstans at the port. Consequently, the system of work adopted was unsafe. Arrangements for instruction, training and supervision of workers using this equipment were inadequate, as were those for audit and monitoring of safety. Also taken into account by the court was the fact that, the defendant failed to suitably heed warnings raised by its workers prior to the incident.