ATE Truck & Trailer Sales has had to pay nearly £500,000 in fines and costs following following an incident in which a man died helping it to dismantle a trailer.
Self-employed William Price died when the heavy frame of a trailer he was cutting fell on his head. Price was involved in converting a curtainsided trailer into a flatbed for the Fordhouses, West Midlands-based company.
The firm was handed a £475,000 fine and told to pay £20,000 prosecution costs at Wolverhampton Crown Court after admitting failing to make a “suitable and sufficient” risk assessment. It pleaded guilty to breaching the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
An HSE investigation into the accident found that ATE had failed to provide Price with any information in relation to safety when stripping down the trailers. This was despite the fact that it had undertaken the same task previously with its own employees and did have an established method in place.
An ATE employee found Price lying between the trailer and its roof having suffered fatal injuries as a result of the accident, which happened in 2013. An inquest previously concluded that his death was an accident.
The firm said that Mr Price had been well liked and respected by the firm and that his death had profoundly affected everybody at the company.
Speaking after the court case, HSE inspector Judith Botwood said: “This tragic accident was preventable had all parties considered the risks involved and taken appropriate measures to reduce that risk.”
