The terrifying moment a worker fell from a lift at a Coventry factory and fractured his skull

This is the terrifying moment a worker fell from a scissor lift at a Coventry factory and fractured his skull. It left the electrician having to be put into an induced coma in the hospital.

The 52-year-old, who has not been named but is from Sheffield, was in the cage of a scissor lift erected at the Expert Tooling and Automation Ltd site on Sayer Drive. The Optilight Electrical Services Ltd employee had repaired lighting fixtures on site.

While in the elevator, another worker from Expert Tooling began operating a nearby overhead crane. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says they did not spot the electrician in the scissor lift.

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The crane then collided with the scissor lift, which was about 35 feet high, causing it to twist and hit nearby shelving before landing on the factory floor. The electrician fell out of the cage as he fell towards the ground, hitting his head on the floor.

It left him with a fractured skull, two brain bleeds, a broken collarbone, eight broken ribs, a broken elbow and wrist, and a punctured lung. He was later placed in an induced coma and had to undergo several operations.

The HSE says a second worker also avoided being crushed by the scissor lift by jumping out of the way before landing on the floor. Following the incident on 21 September 2022, the HSE has launched an investigation.

It found that Optilight Electrical failed to identify the operation of overhead cranes as a risk to its employees working at height on the Expert Tooling site. It also found that Expert Tooling did not have procedures in place to prevent the use of overhead cranes while working at height.

Expert Tooling instead relied on contractors identifying risks and implementing control measures, rather than ensuring procedures were already in place. Both companies were found to have failed to communicate to each other how the work they were undertaking could affect the safety of their staff at the site.

‘Disastrous consequences’

As a result, the HSE prosecuted both companies. The pair appeared at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on April 29.

Expert Tooling & Automation Ltd pleaded guilty to contravening section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act. 1974. The company was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,985.97.

Optilight Electrical Services Limited, of Oakwood Road, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, pleaded guilty to contravening section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act. 1974. The company was fined £7,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,985.97.

Speaking after the case, HSE inspector Charlotte Cunniffe said: “This case clearly illustrates the disastrous consequences that can arise when two companies each assume that the other has taken responsibility for safe working practices.

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