A COMPANY has been fined £80,000 after an employee sustained a fractured skull at its site in Glasgow. 

The injury occurred after the man was struck by a telehandler bucket which came detached and struck him when he was removing cattle from the back of a lorry while he was working at Grayshill Limited on October 19, 2022. 

He also suffered a broken clavicle, a ripped earlobe and haematomas down his right side. 

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found Grayshill Limited failed to implement a safe system of work for the use of quick hitches on the telehandler.

A quick hitch is a latching device that enables, in this case, the bucket, to be connected to the arm of the telehandler and changed quickly.

A manual quick hitch requires an operator to manually insert a metal pin from the latching device to secure the attachment.

On the morning of October 19, 2022, a self-employed agricultural engineer had serviced the telehandler, which included removing the bucket but the engineer did not correctly reattach it onto the telehandler after the service was complete.

The investigation found that the securing pin for the quick hitch had not been reinserted.

Hazel Dobb, HSE principal inspector, said: "This was a serious incident that has resulted in a worker sustaining horrific injuries.

"We thoroughly investigated this incident and found Grayshill Limited failed to carry out the correct control measures and safe working practices at its site in Glasgow.

"The company also failed to check its vehicles after they had been serviced and repaired to ensure they were safe for use."