Worcestershire-based Tooles Transport has been ordered to pay more than £400,000 following an incident in which a driver was crushed to death by a reversing truck.
Worcester Crown Court heard that on 11 December 2013, Tooles Transport employee Kevin Scott was helping a colleague to reverse a vehicle when he became trapped between the reversing truck and his own. He suffered fatal chest injuries.
An HSE investigation found drivers were routinely labelling up their loads in the yard while other trucks were returning to the yard and reversing in close proximity. The investigation discovered there was no segregation of vehicles and pedestrians, lighting was inadequate and there were deep shadows between parked trucks.
Tooles Transport of Rushock Trading Estate, Droitwich Spa, was found guilty of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, fined £150,000 and ordered to pay costs of £253,728.
Following the hearing, HSE principal inspector Elizabeth Hornsby said: “Those in control of work have a responsibility to devise safe methods of working and to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to their workers in the safe system of working.
“If a suitable safe system of work had been in place before the incident, this tragic loss of life could have been prevented.”
