A FACTORY in East Yorkshire has been fined £100,000 over an accident in which 59-year-old worker was killed.
Refrigerated trailer builder Montracon Limited, of Market Weighton, failed to prevent the collapse of a two-to-three-ton steel vacuum lifter which fell on to the head of father and grandfather Ronald Wood, 59.
A judge at Hull Crown Court described the tragedy, which happened in September 2009, as “an accident waiting to happen.”
“This is a tragic case,” said Judge James Sampson. “The sympathy of the court goes out to Mr Wood’s family. The penalty open to the court is wholly insufficient to reflect their loss.”
The court heard that in the weeks leading up to the accident, the vacuum lifter – called a spider – had been hit repeatedly, possibly five times, and fell off its storage bracket after being struck again by a moving refrigeration trailer – one of 53 being built for a supermarket chain.
Mr Wood had worked at the factory, which has a sister factory at Wilberfoss, near York, since November 2008.
He was directly under the spider looking in to a parts bin in the finishing area when the accident happened.
Montracon pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to discharge its duty under the 1974 Health and Safety Act.
Prosecuting barrister Katherine Blackwell, for the Health and Safety Executive, said Mr Wood was described by his employers as a “valued employee who was well-liked and respected by all.”
She said the HSE had prosecuted after finding the firm did not have procedures for reporting near misses and no training was given to employers guiding trailers.
Defence barrister Frank O’Donougue, QC, denied the accident was the result of cost cutting and said the lack of proper risk assessment was because the firm had lost its health and safety workers in the recession.
He said Mr Wood’s family had received a civil settlement plus a £30,000 death in service benefit.
source: yorkpress.co.uk
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