Jaguar Land Rover Fined $1.1 Million After Worker's Injury
HSE said its investigators determined the company had failed to ensure the driver of the Range Rover was familiar with procedures and also failed to properly separate the workers on the production line from the moving vehicles.
The British car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover has been fined $1.1 million after one of its production workers had a leg amputated following an accident in a company factory. The Health & Safety Executive investigated the incident, which occurred Feb. 8, 2015, at Jaguar's Lode Lane plant, according to HSE. The case wound up before a judge who assessed the fine.
It involved a Range Rover Sport vehicle that was driven toward the start of a production line, an event that normally happens 48 times an hour at the plant. The driver lost control of the car and collided with the rear of another vehicle he had just delivered, pushing four cars together. A worker who was crossing the production line became trapped between the second and third cars and sustained injuries that resulted in the amputation of his right leg above the knee. Two other employees suffered minor injuries.
HSE said its investigators determined the company had failed to ensure the driver of the Range Rover was familiar with procedures and also failed to properly separate the workers on the production line from the moving vehicles. Jaguar Land Rover was found guilty of breaching Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and fined £900,000, equivalent to $1.1 million in U.S. dollars, and ordered to pay costs of £49,800.
"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," said HSE Inspector John Glynn.