Yesterday Hanson Packed Products was fined £750,000 at Southwark Crown Court for offences that led to the death of an employee, sucked into a machine at its cement bagging site in Dagenham.
The hearing came just a week after Derby Crown Court fined it £80,000 for its part in the death of a delivery driver, crushed by a concrete panel. [See previous report here.]
The Dagenham employee, 26-year-old William Ridge, was clearing sand around the base of an in-feed conveyor on 25th September 2013 moments before his right arm was drawn into the roller.
Southwark Crown Court heard that there should have been fixed guards surrounding the powered roller to prevent access to the dangerous moving parts. A Health & Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that a critical guard had not been in place on the machine for a few days. It also found there had been issues with the machinery on the previous day, which Mr Ridge was trying to rectify at the time of the incident.
Hanson Packed Products Ltd – part of Germany’s Heidelberg Cement Group – pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and were fined £750,000 and ordered to pay costs of £29,511.
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