No penalty for fatality
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• A recycling firm where a driver died after being struck by a reversing truck has been cleared of failing to provide adequate safety measures. John Payne, 60, of Appleby, Cumbria, worked for John Beaty Transport of Penrith, Cumbria; he died on 16 June 1998 after the accident at the Broadhurst site of European Metal Recycling at Kelvin Way, West Bromwich.
When the firm appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court it pleaded not guilty to a charge of failing to ensure, within reason, the health and safety of a worker.
Paul Farrer, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive, had told the jury during the five-day trial that 200 trucks a day visited the West Bromwich site to collect or deliver scrap, and had to wait up to three hours to complete their business. He said that drivers faced danger when they wandered around because of the lack of space, with lorries having to reverse rather than turn.
But the jury found the firm not guilty after Nigel Lawrence, defending, said it provided adequate safety measures, including signs about reversing trucks. "Drivers were advised to wear highly visible clothing so they could be seen by other drivers when reversing," he said.