Public services firm Serco has been fined £240,000 after a passenger in an HGV was killed when litter-picking vans obstructed a lane of a dual-carriageway in Norfolk. Tony Skerratt, 44, was the passenger in a Wren Kitchens lorry when it hit the vans blocking the inside lane of the A11 near Attleborough in February 2019. The litter-picking was being carried out by Serco employees and the vans were moving along the road slowly, stopping to allow bags of rubbish to be collected.
An investigation into the incident found Serco had failed in its health and safety management of litter-picking activities on high-speed dual-carriageways. Local media reports quoted Judge Antony Bate as saying that although safety measures had been in place, they were “not adequate” and not “sufficiently adhered to or implemented”.Serco pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £240,000 and ordered to pay costs of £37,074 at Norwich Crown Court on 23 June.
A Serco spokesman said: “Serco co-operated fully with the Health and Safety Executive, has a good health and safety record, and a strong health and safety culture.We have implemented actions that are aimed at ensuring that such an accident will not happen again.”
