Suffolk-based trailer service firm SPR Trailer Services has been fined £120,000 after an employee suffered fatal head injuries.
Ipswich Crown Court heard how Doug Skinner was operating a scissor lift working platform when it was struck by a truck, causing him to be knocked onto the roadway from a height of 1.5 metres. He died in hospital two days after the accident.
A Health & Safety Executive investigation into the accident, which happened two years ago, found that SPR Trailer Services had failed to plan and organise work at a height that ensured the safety of their workers.
The work at height should have been organised to segregate activity from workplace transport operations nearby.
SPR Trailer Services, of Walton Avenue, Felixstowe pleaded guilty to breaching section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974.
Speaking after the case, HSE principal inspector Norman Macritchie said: “This was a tragic and wholly avoidable incident, caused by the failure of the company to implement and monitor safe systems of work.
"The company did not undertake the simple safety measure of segregating those working at height from adjacent workplace transport operations, in line with widely available workplace guidance.”
SPR Trailer Services MD Simon Rivers said: “Doug Skinner was a respected, trusted and extremely valued member of staff.
"His tragic death had a profound effect on SPR Trailer Services. The company’s thoughs have been and remain with the family.”
The company has no previous convictions.
