British Airways is fined £1.8 million after female employee was crushed beneath a baggage tug and suffered ‘serious injuries’ at Heathrow Airport
- Employee was struck by tug pulling a train of dollies at Terminal 5 in March 2018
- Woman catapulted under another passing tug and sustained serious injuries
- British Airways admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and fined
British Airways has been fined £1.8 million after a female employee was crushed beneath a baggage tug at Heathrow Airport.
The woman was struck by a tug pulling a train of dollies – vehicles used to transport baggage – at Terminal 5 on March 16, 2018, Southwark Crown Court heard.
She was catapulted under another passing tug pulling dollies loaded with luggage, sustaining serious crush injuries.
The hearing was told that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) discovered the worker was using the centre of the roadway between two lanes as a walking route.
The woman was struck by a tug pulling a train of dollies – vehicles used to transport baggage – at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport on March 16, 2018, Southwark Crown Court heard
A spokesman for the HSE said: ‘This unsafe practice had been commonplace in the baggage hall for at least 10 years.
‘The investigation also identified significant failings in the general management of health and safety and workplace transport risks, including issues relating to supervision and monitoring, risk assessment and training.’
British Airways admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £1.8 million and ordered to pay costs of £35,724 by the judge.
HSE inspector Megan Carr said: ‘The situation in the baggage hall at Heathrow Terminal 5 was an incident waiting to happen.
She was catapulted under another passing tug pulling dollies loaded with luggage, sustaining serious crush injuries. Pictured: Stock image
‘British Airways failed to appreciate the serious nature of the risks to which its employees were exposed and as a result failed to take appropriate action to ensure they were properly protected.’
A British Airways spokesperson told SurreyLive: ‘The safety of our colleagues and crew is always our priority and we deeply regret that this incident was able to occur, despite the measures we had in place.
‘We’ve been working hard to learn from this experience and implement further improvements to our safety procedures .’