Industry news
Firm fined over driver's death
Posted Tue, 20 Apr 2010
A truck driver was killed when a crushed car rolled down a scrapheap in Newport and struck him from behind, a court heard.
Scrap metal yard owners Sims Group UK Ltd, of Long Marston, Stratford upon Avon, have been fined £200,000 for the incident where Adrian Turner was hit by a metal bale.
Mr Turner, 50, from Wolverhampton, had been told to deliver his load to the metal shredder area of the yard when he visited on 28 April 2008. He had left his cab to open the rear doors of the trailer when the one and a half ton metal bale on the pile came loose and rolled down 20 feet into him.
He had not been given any site safety induction by Sims UK Ltd and was following the instructions of Sims operatives.
At Cardiff Crown Court, the company pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and were fined £200,000 and ordered to pay £57,700 in costs.
HSE Inspector Sarah Baldwin-Jones said: "Mr Turner was struck from behind by the metal bale – a crushed motor vehicle – weighing some one and a half tons. Unfortunately, death or serious injury was an inevitable consequence."
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Health and Safety Executive