Hall & Co appeal fails to cut fine
Page 11
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• A subsidiary of the giant Ready Mixed Concrete Group, fined £150,000 after an employee was crushed to death by a lorry at its Chichester depot, failed at a London appeal court to win a reduction in the fine.
Judge Geoffrey Rivlin said the combination of failures of safety procedures at the Hall & Co plant that led to the death of Anthony Wilson in April last year were such that a substantial penalty had been called for.
Hall & Co was refused further appeals. The company had admitted breaching the 1974 Health &Safety at Work regulations at Chichester Crown Court on 16 February this year.
The court heard that yardsman and driver Wilson was killed when a lorry reversed into the bay where he had been loading. There were no deliniated safety areas in the bays for employees to stand in and no look-out man. At that time the vehicles did not have reverse alarms or special mirrors.
But Hall & Co, with 1,000 employees and 94 yards, had a good safety record and had responded quickly by fitting its fleet with reverse alarms.