Luxury Yacht Maker Slapped with £600,000 Fine After Worker Suffers Horrific Injuries
Worker Crushed by Tipping Tonne-Heavy Platform
A top-tier yacht manufacturer has been hit with a massive £600,000 fine following a shocking workplace accident that left veteran employee Mark Gillen with life-altering injuries. The 54-year-old, who boasts 26 years with the company, was crushed under a staging platform weighing around one tonne. The platform toppled after one of its front wheels hit a divot in the concrete at the company’s Southyard shipyard on 9 November 2021.
HSE Investigation Reveals Preventable Safety Failures
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Princess Yachts had failed to properly assess the risks of manually moving heavy staging platforms across uneven ground. Their investigation concluded that proper risk assessments would have flagged the uneven surface and prohibited manual pushing, recommending forklifts instead to prevent disaster.
Family Speak Out on Devastating Aftermath
Mrs Sarah Gillen spoke candidly about the toll the tragedy has taken on her family. “Our worlds were turned upside down the day Mark had the catastrophic crush accident, leaving him with life-changing injuries,” she said. “We are incredibly lucky to still have him with us, but the road to recovery has been extremely difficult and continues to be.”
Before the accident, Mark was a fit and active man who enjoyed weight training, boxing, cycling, and golf. Now he suffers constant, debilitating nerve pain that has robbed him of the activities he loved and severely affected his wellbeing.
Company Fined and Held Accountable
Princess Yachts pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The company was fined £600,000 and ordered to pay an additional £9,146 in costs.
HSE inspector Paul Mannell said: “Mark Gillen’s survival was fortunate. The company should have had measures in place to ensure mobile staging was never pushed by hand. Their failure resulted in a life-changing injury to a loyal employee.”
