A Coventry recycling company has been fined £200,000 after a worker was killed when a reversing skip lorry struck him. Easco (Midlands) was also ordered to pay £55,000 costs at Coventry Crown Court last week after pleading guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Ronald Barnacle, 58, was a burner at the metal recycler when the vehicle struck him in June 2005. The Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) says there were inadequate precautions in place to segregate pedestrians from vehicles, despite previous warnings from the HSE at other sites in the Easco group.
The HSE is reminding employers of their legal obligations Inspector Jenny Skeldon says: "Scrapyard owners need to ensure they make a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of the movement of vehicles and pedestrians on site and identify and implement appropriate control measures to prevent people being struck by moving vehicles. "Had basic health and safety precautions been observed it is unlikely that such a fatality would have occurred."
Easco was bought by recycling and waste management company Sita in May 2007. A spokeswoman offered her condolences to Barnacle's family. "Since Sita UK took over Easco in May 2007 the issues raised by the Health and Safety Executive have been resolved. A detailed action plan to raise health and safety standards
has also been implemented to help prevent a similar incident happening again."
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