Advising with empathy and experience

Wilko fined after worker crushed at store.

 

National chain store Wilko has been fined £2.2m after a worker was crushed and left paralysed.

Corisande Collins, 23, was pinned under a metal cage containing tins of paint while working at a Leicester store in 2013.

Ms Collins, who was working part-time while studying for a degree, suffered a spinal fracture and now uses a wheelchair. Her family confirmed they are to seek compensation.

Leicester Crown Court heard the company admitted failing to ensure the health and safety of its staff.

Ms Collins, from Glenfield, had just completed the first year of a degree at Northampton University and had taken work at the Beaumont Shopping Centre branch.

She was pulling a 6ft roll cage overloaded with 230kg (507lb) of paint out of a lift when it toppled on her, the court heard.

An air ambulance took her to hospital where doctors later told her she would never walk again.

The prosecution described the accident as a "high-culpability case" as there was no risk assessment for the lift or the use of the roll cages, as well as "inadequate training and supervision.”

Health and safety inspectors said they were shocked by practices at the store, and said that the systems were unsafe.

In a statement the company accepted the ruling and said that it would not appeal. It added: "The greater penalty for all of us is knowing that on this occasion we let one of our team members down.

"We are truly sorry that this incident happened and for the impact it has had on Corisande, her family and those around them, which the judge today recognised they have faced as a family and with great fortitude."