Somerset farm owner fined after telehandler crush

An elderly farm owner has been fined after the telehandler she was operating crushed a neighbour, causing serious injury.

Pamela Greenslade, 76, from Fernicaps Farm, Wiveliscombe, Taunton was driving the telehandler to transport silage bales from the farmyard to a shed in order to feed her cattle.

Taunton Magistrates' Court heard Ms Greenslade had not been trained to use the telehandler and although a trained farm worker would normally have driven the machine, he was unavailable that day.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), prosecuting, told the court that on 31 December 2009, Ms Greenslade had asked her neighbour, John Morrish, 49, to remove plastic wrapping from the last bale when she had brought it to the shed.

As Mr Morrish was cutting the wrapping off the bale, which was still being held by the grab of the telehandler, Ms Greenslade moved the machine, trapping him between the machine and the feed barrier in the shed, breaking his ribs and puncturing a lung.

After the hearing HSE inspector Tony Makin, said: "Telehandlers are very useful machines for farm work, but all too often they cause incidents when people use them without formal training. Because they can be so dangerous, it's a legal requirement that anyone using these machines is properly trained to do so."

Mrs Greenslade pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £6,000.