Royal Mail has been fined £90,000 following the death of an employee who was crushed between a tractor unit and trailer.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) brought the prosecution after yard shunter Colin Smith was fatally injured in September 2006 at Royal Mail's Heathrow DC.
The incident happened when an HGV driver employed by the organisation reversed his tractor to line up with a trailer parked at a loading bay.
After lining up his vehicle, the driver left the cab and walked to the back of the unit to complete the manoeuvre, but found Smith had been trapped as he tried to remove a lock from the trailer.
Royal Mail was also ordered to pay costs of £42,549.56 after pleading guilty at Reading Crown Court to breaching section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
On 1 March, the driver, Ian Wheeler, was found not guilty of breaching section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Karl Howes, HSE inspector, says Royal Mail failed to adequately assess the risk to shunters working in the yard, or to identify and rectify the unsafe system, and that these factors contributed to Mr Smith's death.
"This was a tragic accident which could have been easily prevented if Royal Mail had exercised proper control of vehicle activities at the Heathrow Distribution Centre," he adds. "In areas where vehicles are manoeuvring, employers have a legal duty to ensure that work can be done safely."
Howes believes Royal Mail's guilty plea demonstrates that it "acknowledges the failings" and says that since the accident, it has "put measures in place to prevent a recurrence".
Year: 2015 | Body Type: Tractor unit | Cab Type: Sleeper | Registration: NK65 SXM | Category: Tractor units
Year: 2025 | Body Type: Curtainsider | Cab Type: Day | Registration: UnRegistered TYAFEC71HRDD20671 | Category: Rigids
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