HSE warns of the danger of reversing vehicles
ROTHERHAM Metropolitan Borough Council has been fined £75,000 after an employee was killed by a reversing truck. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) also prosecuted contractor Brocklebank & Co. (Demolition) Ltd over the incident during a council road surfacing operation.
Gordon Duffield, a council employee, was knocked down by an eight-wheel tipper truck operated by Brocklebank as it delivered asphalt to a site in Rotherham on 4 May 2007.
Rotherham MBC was fined £75,000 and ordered to pay £18,350 costs in relation to the incident after pleading guilty to a section 2(1) breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 at Doncaster Crown Court.
Sheffield-based Brocklebank & Co. (Demolition) Ltd also pleaded guilty to a breach of section 3(1) of the same legislation, and were fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £12,000 costs.
After the hearing, HSE Principal Inspector John Rowe said: ‘Mr Duffield’s death demonstrates all too clearly the need for the movement of workplace vehicles to be carefully managed so that employees and other pedestrians are not put at risk. The council had a duty to protect their employee, yet vehicle movements at the site were uncontrolled despite the fact that tipper wagons had to reverse the length of the site. The Council was also aware that the worker was partially deaf as a result of exposure to noise at work – but had made no assessment of his suitability to continue as a road worker.’
Mr Rowe continued: ‘Similarly, the contractor in this case had failed to take all reasonably practicable steps to protect those at the site from the risk of being hit by a reversing vehicle. In particular, instructions for the driver to do a 360° check were not communicated nor was CCTV fitted to eliminate the blind spot at the rear of the vehicle.’
Gordon Duffield, a council employee, was knocked down by an eight-wheel tipper truck operated by Brocklebank as it delivered asphalt to a site in Rotherham on 4 May 2007.
Rotherham MBC was fined £75,000 and ordered to pay £18,350 costs in relation to the incident after pleading guilty to a section 2(1) breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 at Doncaster Crown Court.
Sheffield-based Brocklebank & Co. (Demolition) Ltd also pleaded guilty to a breach of section 3(1) of the same legislation, and were fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £12,000 costs.
After the hearing, HSE Principal Inspector John Rowe said: ‘Mr Duffield’s death demonstrates all too clearly the need for the movement of workplace vehicles to be carefully managed so that employees and other pedestrians are not put at risk. The council had a duty to protect their employee, yet vehicle movements at the site were uncontrolled despite the fact that tipper wagons had to reverse the length of the site. The Council was also aware that the worker was partially deaf as a result of exposure to noise at work – but had made no assessment of his suitability to continue as a road worker.’
Mr Rowe continued: ‘Similarly, the contractor in this case had failed to take all reasonably practicable steps to protect those at the site from the risk of being hit by a reversing vehicle. In particular, instructions for the driver to do a 360° check were not communicated nor was CCTV fitted to eliminate the blind spot at the rear of the vehicle.’
