Portland company have health and safety fine lowered on appeal (From Dorset Echo)

Portland company have health and safety fine lowered on appeal

12:30pm Tuesday 12th February 2013 in News

A PORTLAND company which was prosecuted over health and safety failings led a crane to topple has had its fine lowered on appeal.

South Coast Crane Hire (SCCH) had been told to pay £10,000 by Weymouth magistrates in November after it admitted its liability in an incident.

Both the company and JR Pickstock Ltd had been brought to court by the Health and Safety Executive after the accident which took place during the construction of a nursing home in Gillingham in 2009.

SCCH admitted breaching Regulation 8(1)c of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £10,000.

JR Pickstock Ltd admitted breaching Regulation 23(1)a of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and was fined £16,000.

But SCCH went before Dorchester Crown Court on Friday to ask for a reduction and more time to pay. Karen Taylor, representing SCCH, argued that JR Pickstock Ltd would pay little more despite vast differences in the companies’ turnovers.

The court heard thadt last year, SCCH made a profit of around £45,000 whereas JR Pickstock made £2.3m.

Lowering SCCH’s fine to £8,000 Judge Roger Jarvis said JR Pickwick was ‘lucky’ it had been dealt with in magistrate’s court and did not face a more substantial fine which a crown court could have imposed.

SCCH was also given an additional 12 months to pay. An order for costs of £14, 917 remains.