Safety Signs News

Firm fined after worker dies in shuttle car incident

29th March 2010 | Warning Signs

A firm from Caerphilly has been fined £100,000 after one of its workers died in a moving machinery accident.

The 38-year-old project engineer was operating a shuttle line transporting finished aluminium products from the packing stations to the banding machine at a factory in Birtley on November 2nd 2006.

Durham Crown Court heard that the he was working at the rear of the four packing stations when he was struck by a shuttle car, which ran on rail tracks to move finished items.

The man was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival and Hydro Aluminium Exclusion was subsequently fined and ordered to pay £13,375 in costs.

Health and Safety Executive inspector Zoe Feather explained that the firm should have had warning signs and more effective safety measures in place to protect its employees.

"This incident could have been easily prevented if the company had a suitable system to make sure workers could not gain access into the shuttle line," she said.

Last week, EJ Construction was fined £20,000 after one of its workers drowned following a fall into a flooded quarry while driving a site dumper.

Posted by Jason Nicholls ADNFCR-2754-ID-19694096-ADNFCR