The senior partner of a vehicle-breakdown recovery company has been fined £100,000 after an employee was crushed under a five-tonne press brake used to bend metal. Stuart Mullen, 33, was killed on 23 May 2006, while he and another employee were moving the machine using a jack and rollers. The company had brought the machine into its unit at Willowholme Industrial Estate, in Carlisle, a month previously but had set it down too close to the electric box into which it had to be wired.
Describing the machine, HSE inspector Steve Smith told SHP: “It was 5.3 tonnes, about two metres wide and about two metres high, but its depth was only about a metre and a bit. The problem that causes is, it is fairly unstable. All the hydraulic machinery and the hydraulic reservoir are at the top of the machine, which makes it quite top-heavy.”
The workers jacked up the left-hand side of the machine and inserted three rollers underneath, before repeating the process on the right-hand side. However, the feet of the machine were slightly offset from its base. This meant that as the device was moved a few inches, the rear roller had to be passed back to the front of the machine so that it could continue to be edged into position.
Once the equipment had been moved the required 10 to 12 inches away from the electric box, George Robertson Graham, the senior partner at the firm, told the employees to leave it where it was, and walked out of the unit. The workers thought this amounted to an instruction to take out the rollers and lower the machine.
As the machine was jacked up and they began to remove the rollers, it rocked and tipped over, trapping Mr Mullen underneath. Colleagues rushed to his aid and used a reach truck to lift the machine up. Paramedics were called but Mr Mullen had already died by the time they arrived.
Facing a charge under s2(1) of the HSWA 1974, for failing to carry out an adequate risk assessment, or having a safe system of work in place, Robertson Graham pleaded guilty at Carlisle Crown Court on 27 April. He was fined £100,000 and told to pay £20,000 in costs.
His barrister pointed to the company’s show of remorse for the outcome of the incident, and its previously clean record as mitigating factors. The court was also presented with references showing Robertson Graham to be of good character.
Inspector Smith said: “What the risk assessment, if sufficient, should have shown is where the centre of gravity was on the machine, so they knew where to put the jack.”
He continued: “In this instance, an ad-hoc system was devised without proper consideration of the nature of the object that was being moved, or detailed analysis of the situation and the possible pitfalls.
“There had not been any special arrangements made through risk assessments, formalised systems of work, specially designed equipment, or training of the employees involved. Consideration had also not been given to the use of a specialist contractor.”
http://www.shponline.co.uk/article.asp?pagename=incourt&article_id=8803
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