– Mechanic severely injured as car falls during prayer break
– Garage failed to lock lift arms and provide safety training
– Victim now dependent on care and unlikely to work again
– Mechanic severely injured as car falls during prayer break
– Garage failed to lock lift arms and provide safety training
– Victim now dependent on care and unlikely to work again
A Liverpool motor repair company has been fined £40,000 after a mechanic was crushed by a car that fell from a lift, leaving him with life-changing injuries.
The incident occurred on 23 November 2022 at Car Spa & Tyres, based in the Kensington area of Liverpool.
The 56-year-old mechanic from Toxteth had been working on a vehicle raised on a two-post lift when the car collapsed.
Neither of the lift’s swivel arms had been locked into place. The man, who had just stepped away to prepare for prayer, was trapped beneath the falling vehicle.
He was rushed to Aintree Hospital with multiple injuries, including a broken leg, five fractured ribs, a fractured pelvis and three broken spinal bones.
He remained in hospital for four months and is now highly dependent on his wife and others for basic daily tasks. Doctors believe he is unlikely to return to work.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Car Spa & Tyres had failed to implement a safe system of work or provide adequate staff training in the use of the lift equipment.
The company was found guilty of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was sentenced at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court. In addition to the £40,000 fine, the company was ordered to pay £20,000 in court costs.
HSE inspector David Bellis commented: “This was a very serious incident, and it is fortunate nobody was killed. If the injured man had been suitably trained and the equipment properly used, this incident would have been avoided.”
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