A welder was crushed by machinery at a shipyard and left with life-ruining injuries.
David Vinsome, 37, was slammed to the ground by a ginormous excavation bucket and fabrication table at Pallion Shipyard in Sunderland.
Mr Vinsome from North Shields sustained multiple rib fractures and internal injuries including an abdominal wall burst.
He had to spend nine days in hospital and was unable to leave his bed at home for a month.
CCTV footage shows him attempting to attach the chains from an overhead crane to the bucket while a forklift driver unaware of Mr Vinsome’s position simultaneously tried to lift the bucket.
Mr Vinsome, who is a father-of-one, was subsequently crushed on October 18, 2022.
In a victim statement, he said: ‘When I did come home, I was in bed for about a month before I tried to get down the stairs.
‘My partner is a NHS nurse, so she helped a lot.
David Vinsome from North Shields sustained multiple rib fractures and internal injuries including an abdominal wall burst
CCTV footage shows David Vinsome attempting to attach the chains from an overhead crane to the excavation bucket
David Vinsome, 37, was slammed to the ground by a ginormous excavation bucket and fabrication table at Pallion Shipyard in Sunderland
‘I am still suffering a lot of pain with my shoulder. I have a daughter and I cannot do the school run anymore or take her out for meals or ice cream.
‘I am worried about getting back to work. I don’t know when that will be or how I will manage.
‘I don’t think I will go back to welding.’
Following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the company Midland Steel Traders Ltd has been fined £100,000.
The investigation found Midland Steel Traders Ltd had failed to ensure that the lifting activity was properly planned by a competent person, or carried out in a safe manner.
They also failed to establish a safe system of work for this activity – ‘leading to a breakdown of communication between the multiple operators involved.’
Following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the company Midland Steel Traders Ltd has been fined £100,000
Mr Vinsome, who is a father-of-one, was crushed on October 18, 2022, at Pallion Shipyard in Sunderland
Midland Steel Traders Ltd was fined £100,000 and told to pay £4,916 costs at Newcastle Magistrates Court on February 13, 2025
HSE inspector Matthew Dundas said: ‘Lifting operations can often put people at great risk, as well as incurring great costs when they go wrong.
‘It is therefore important to properly resource, plan and organise lifting operations so they are carried out in a safe manner.
‘Had that been done in this case then Mr Vinsome wouldn’t have been so seriously injured.
‘HSE provides detailed guidance on lifting operations including the importance on how they should be properly resourced, planned and organised, to enable them to be carried out in a safe manner.’
Midland Steel Traders Ltd, Portobello Ind Est, Shadon Way, Chester le Street, pleaded guilty to breaching the Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
The company was fined £100,000 and told to pay £4,916 costs at Newcastle Magistrates Court on February 13, 2025.
