SEACON Terminals Ltd have been fined a total of £7,000 at Dartford Magistrates' Court for breaches of health and safety legislation.

The prosecution followed a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into an incident in which an employee, Mr Steven Hucks, suffered a crushed pelvis and severe bruising. Mr Hicks had been unloading steel coils weighing about 18 tonnes each when he was trapped between two coils being unloaded and the next roil of coils on the terminal floor.

The incident occurred on 3 March 2002, on the company's premises at Tower Wharf, Northfleet.

Maria Strangward, HM Inspector of Safety and Health, said: "The planning and execution of work of this type is very important. Risk assessments should be used to help identify control measures in order to reduce risk to employees. Risk assessments are there to assess risk to employees and should be acted upon, they are not simply a reference document.

"HSE will not tolerate employers exposing their employees to unacceptable risks at work. The HSE has always been available to give advice in relation to health and safety at work and there is simply no excuse for employers to plead ignorance of good health and safety practice."

Seacon Terminals Ltd was fined £3,500 after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, and fined £3,500 for breaching Regulation 5 of the Docks Regulations 1988. The company was also ordered to pay £1,450 costs.