Dudley Metropolitan Council was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act (It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees).

A council employee and the driver of the vehicle, pleaded guilty to two breaches of Section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work Act (It shall be the duty of every employee while at work...to take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work.) and was fined £750 and ordered to pay £500 in costs.

The man killed was a council manager who was described as a "well-liked professional manager". He was struck and killed by a wheeled shovel loader on 27 October 2006. Wolverhampton Court heard how the loader was driven against the direction of the site's one-way system and had the loading shovel at a height that meant the driver couldn't see in front properly. Suitable precautions were not taken to make sure he didn't damage any other vehicles or harm pedestrians.

The manager had been wearing a high visibility jacket and was facing the oncoming traffic in the yard when he was hit in the upper back by the blade of the wheeled loader shovel's bucket. Other employees tried to warn the manager and divert the vehicle, but the vehicle did not stop until after the front wheel had run him over.

An Inspector from the HSE said:

"This was a terrible incident that could so easily have been prevented. The manager’s untimely death has brought great grief to his family, and to many of his work colleague6s.

Depots and loading yards are potentially dangerous places, with vehicles often required to manoeuvre in tight or enclosed spaces. Employers need to provide set routes, to keep pedestrians and vehicles safely apart. They also need to check their site rules and systems of work are both appropriate and adequately enforced.

Drivers need to obey signs and instructions in workplaces, just as closely as they would obey them on a public highway. In driving at over 8mph against the one-way system, with the unnecessarily raised bucket obscuring much of his view through the windscreen, the driver of the vehicle failed to take reasonable care for the health and safety of the manager."