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CCTV captures horrific moment woman's leg crushed on night shift at work

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date27 March 2024
Publication titleManchester Evening News: Web Edition Articles (England)
Sharon Bramhall was working at Baker and Baker Products when a mobile elevating work platform MEWP struck her, crushing her left leg, the Liverpool Echo reports. The 58-year-old had to have her leg amputated below the knee following the incident and said she 'could have died'

She had to have nine operations and remains dependant on a wheelchair. Baker and Baker Products, which makes a wide variety of baked goods, pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety Act after the incident at the premises in Bromborough in the Wirral was captured on CCTV cameras.

The company was fined £400,000. In a statement provided to the court, Sharon said she felt 'lucky' it wasn't worse.

She said: "I know I could have died. Sometimes I wake up and just wish I'd booked that night off work for some reason and none of this would have happened."

The court heard how Sharon had been supervising four other members of staff as they completed high-level cleaning tasks during a night shift on April 22, 2022. She had been acting as 'a banksman' for an employee who was controlling an MEWP.

As the MEWP turned through 90 degrees into the warehouse it hit Sharon. She was hospitalised for three months and has had a total of nine operations including several skin grafts.

She said: "I have a huge scar on my stomach from where the surgeons took a piece of it to use as a flap over my stump. My left leg above my stump is really badly scarred and damaged.

"It was trapped under the cherry picker. The recovery afterwards was awful.

"It is difficult to put in to words just how much the accident has impacted me. I have had to uproot and move my family.

"I am struggling with blistering on my stump, even now, rendering me wheelchair dependent. I am not able to leave the house on my own. I am fearful about what the future holds for me."

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive HSE revealed a series of failings by Baker and Baker Products UK Limited. The company failed to have...

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