Prosecutions

A Birmingham galvanising firm was sentenced on 17 November after a man was crushed to death when a crane's jig and load fell on him.

The man was moving 500kg of metal components using a travelling crane when both the crane's jig and the load it was holding, weighing around 1.3 tonnes in total, fell directly onto him.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the lifting machinery that the man had been using was unsuitable for the work and poorly maintained, so prosecuted the man’s employers.

It also found that there was some wire wrapped round safety catches on the crane, suggesting that they did not always engage properly and additional measures had been needed.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard the man, who had worked at the company for more than two decades, as had his father before him, was moving the metal components on 16 January 2008 when the incident occurred.

The firm was fined £1,500 and ordered to pay £37,500 costs after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 4 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Speaking after the hearing a HSE inspector commented:

"This tragic death was completely avoidable and resulted directly from an unsafe system of work.

"There were significant problems with the hooks on the crane and the firm ignored warnings as to their condition over several months, and no lessons were learnt from previous incidents.

"Health and safety generally at the site was accorded a low priority, with the emphasis instead firmly on production.

"Employees were regularly exposed to unacceptable risks to their health and safety. It is a tragedy for this man’s family that his death could have been prevented if the company had taken proper precautions."