Jaguar Land Rovers has been ordered to pay a £900,000 fine for an accident that occurred at its manufacturing plant.
The accident occurred on the 8th February 2015 when a Range Rover Sport vehicle, one of the cars manufactured on the site, was driven towards the start of the production line. This process is routine, usually happening around forty-eight times an hour at the West Midlands site.
Yet in this case, the vehicle’s driver was covering for an ill co-worker and was not trained for the job in hand. As he was driving, he lost control and drove into the car ahead of him. The impact caused a four-car shunt and another worker on the production line was trapped between the second and third car in the line.
The worker’s leg was completely crushed and was later amputated. Two other people were injured in the pile-up, though their injuries were less severe.
The accident resulted in an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The inspectors concluded that Jaguar Land Rover did not ensure the driver of the vehicle was briefed in the procedure of delivering cars to the production line. Additionally, there was no adequate separation of workers and moving vehicles at the site.
The HSE prosecuted Jaguar Land Rovers for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act, thereby exposing their employees to unacceptable risk. The case was heard at the Birmingham Crown Court earlier this month, where the company was fined £900,000 for their failures and ordered to pay £900,000 in court costs.
HSE Inspector John Glynn commented that “A worker has been left with life- changing injuries that were completely avoidable, it was only good fortune that prevented this from being a fatal accident. Jaguar Land Rover knew the risks of driving vehicles onto production lines and the possibility of shunt accidents, but failed to protect their workers.”