Posted on 1 June 2010

Leeds company prosecuted after a fatal accident in the workplace

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A Leeds freight firm has been fined following a workplace accident in which a warehouse manager was crushed to death.

Roadways Container Logistics Limited, based in Stourton, was fined £250,000 and ordered to pay £100,000 in legal costs at Leeds Crown Court as a result of the workplace accident which killed Alan Fletcher. In April 2006 Mr Fletcher was watching workers unloading glass when one of the crates began to topple as it was being lifted from a container. He was crushed to death when he instinctively ran to try to prevent it falling. Peter Bedford, who was supervising the unloading of the glass, was also injured in the accident, leaving him with a permanent disability as well as suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

The court heard how workers had raised concerns about the glass shipment as they were not experienced in handling that type of load. None of the workers had received appropriate training in lifting operations and there had been no risk assessment carried out.

HSE Inspector Morag Irwin said: “In this case, the measures in place were grossly inadequate; there was a failure to carry out a risk assessment or formal planning, as well as a lack of training, all of which resulted in the tragic and unnecessary death of an employee that so easily could have been avoided.”