Safety failings end in death and £250k fine
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LEGAL DIGEST
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Costain was fined £250,00 for safety failings after one of its employees was killed by a reversing truck
By Roger Brown
LEADING ENGINEERING and construction company Costain has been ined £250,000 for safety failings after one of its employees was killed by a reversing truck during work to widen the M25 near Dartford.
In a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution, Maidstone Crown Court was told how Richard Caddock, 38, from Bexleyheath, London, was talking on a mobile phone and could not hear the approaching lorry above the noise of nearby motorway trafic, when he was hit from behind in April 2008.
The surveyor had left a parked van and was walking northbound along a section of the central reservation closed off as part of a £65m scheme to ease congestion between junctions 1b to 3. As he talked on the phone, a tipper truck delivering crushed stone entered the same section and reversed northbound.
Caddock, who had walked approximately 30m, sustained multiple injuries as a result of being run over by the eight wheel vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene.
An HSE investigation found that Costain had failed to ensure that adequate precautions were in place to separate the movements of people and vehicles.
Following the hearing, HSE inspector Melvyn Stancliffe said: “This was a terrible tragedy that could have easily been avoided had Costain Limited implemented basic safety precautions.
“Mr Caddock may have been distracted on the phone, but the drone of nearby trafic was such that he would have struggled to hear the reversing alarm on the lorry regardless.
“Quite simply the two should never have been allowed to be in the same place at the same time.
“The movement of people and vehicles on construction sites requires careful planning and effective control.
“It must be considered a critical part of transport management.
“This case highlights that a failure to be in control can have devastating consequences.” Costain pleaded guilty to breaching 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 in connection to the death.
The act states that it is the duty of every employer to ensure – so far as is reasonably practicable – the health, safety and welfare at work of all its employees.
In addition to the ine, the company was also ordered to pay £45,000 in costs.
A spokesman for Costain says: “This was a tragic accident and our thoughts and feelings are with Richard Caddock’s family.
“Richard was a much-respected member of the Costain team.
“We have no further comment to make.” ■
Careful planning critical
Caddock sustained multiple injuries and died as a result of being run over by the eight-wheel tipper. The movement of people and vehicles on construction sites requires careful planning and effective control, and must be regarded as a critical part of transport management.
CASE TWO
Dorset haulier fined for illegal waste station
THE OWNER OF a Dorset skip company has been ined £2,500 for running an illegal waste transfer station.
In an Environment Agency (EA) prosecution at Yeovil Magistrates’ Court, Ashley Pryer, of Crewkerne, Somerset, was also ordered to pay £1,917 costs.
He pleaded guilty to two offences of operating an illegal waste operation at Axe Mill Industrial Estate in Drimpton, Dorset, in breach of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.
The court heard how in September 2011 an EA oficer visited the industrial estate and found evidence of waste being transferred from skips and sorted.
Wood and metal had been removed for recycling and recovery and there was a large pile of rubble on the ground. A swing shovel machine was being used to remove waste from skips.
Pryer, who trades as Alie’s Skips, and is authorised to run one truck, said prior to January 2011 he took waste collected in his skips to a licensed waste transfer station in Beaminster, Dorset, but this had become unproitable so he began using his own site for sorting and storing waste.
As a registered waste carrier, he is permitted to transport various wastes to licensed sites for sorting and disposal. However, he is not allowed to store and sort waste materials at his site as he doesn’t have the necessary planning permission and permit.
Further checks revealed the defendant was also illegally storing waste in a private car park adjacent to his home in Crewkerne.
Permits needed
Waste transfer stations receive many kinds of waste, so it is important for operators to hold the necessary environmental permits and permissions to safeguard human health and the environment. Owners of illegal sites also undercut legitimate waste operators.
CASE THREE
TC revokes O-licence for lack of repute
A POWYS OPERATOR has had his application for an O-licence refused after failing to satisfy the trafic commissioner (TC) of his professional competence, repute and inancial standing.
At a February public inquiry (PI) in Welshpool, the TC expressed concern as to whether the nominated transport manager at Leighton-based haulier Timothy Jones was genuine, and that the requirement for continuous and effective management was being met. The PI was told how oficers from VOSA and the police had stopped the irm’s vehicle a total of three times for running without an O-licence.
It had also been operating without a licence for a substantial period of time after its Regulation 31 authorisation had expired – the regulation that had given Jones the authority to continue after death of his late father.
Jones said that a grandfather rights certiicate had been enclosed with his application. However, it was later discovered that he had never had one.
With regards to inancial standing, a single statement from the bank was produced with the application in August 2011, and a solitary statement on another account was produced to the TC on the day of the PI.
The TC warned Jones that continuing his operation could lead to his vehicle being impounded.
He could re-apply for a licence but would need to satisfy a TC that the vehicle had been parked up and that a genuine transport manager had been appointed.
Convince the TC
The traffic commissioner will need to be convinced that a genuine transport manager is in place at a business, and that the requirement for continuous and effective management is being met.
Applications and decisions
Compiled by Roger Brown email: roger.brown@roadtransport.com
WESTERN AND WEST MIDLANDS TRAFFIC AREAS
RJM Freightline
RJM FREIGHTLINE has been given the go-ahead for four vehicles and 10 trailers at its unit in Lawford Heath Lane, Rugby, subject to conditions and undertakings: • no vehicle or trailer maintenance shall take place on authorised vehicles at the operating centre before 6am and after 6pm Mondays to Sundays; • authorised vehicles and trailers exiting the operating centre shall always give priority to vehicles and trailers that are entering the operating centre and the operating centre access road; • RJM Freightline will need to plant a screen of trees and hedge plants around the perimeter of the parking area for the authorised vehicles and trailers within 60 days and shall be maintained so as to maximise the screening of the operating centre with a view to minimising noise and visual intrusion; • the operator is to include within the tree/hedge screen some coniferous trees unless it provides the Ofice of the Trafic Commissioner within 60 days with an expert opinion that this cannot be done without danger to stock; • a scheme of private car parking and pedestrian trafic on the parking area will be submitted to and approved by the local VOSA ofice within 28 days.
Stayton Logistics
STAYTON LOGISTICS can locate seven vehicles at its Willments Shipyard site in Hazel Road, Southampton, subject to a new undertaking: • the speciied transport manager, Ian Cox, will do a two-day CPC refresher course with a trade association or recognised training establishment.
AJ Webber Haulage
AJ WEBBER Haulage is looking to remove the GH Lunn and Sons facility in Turnpike Road, Lower Weare, Axbridge, from its licence. The operator hopes to base ive vehicles and three trailers at its new Manor Farm site in Tarnock, Axbridge.
DHL
DHL IS looking to situate four vehicles as well as two trailers at the Lawrence Automotive Interiors site in Coundon Wedge Drive, Allesley, Coventry.
Turners (Soham)
SUFFOLK
BASED Turners (Soham) is hoping to get the go-ahead to base three vehicles as well as the same number of trailers at a unit on the Aston Fields Industrial Estate in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.
FORTHCOMING PUBLIC INQUIRIES Western and West Midlands traffic areas Bristol
• On 16 April, a PI will look at a new application from H Burford and Sons, based in Gloucester. On the same day and place, the TC will consider disciplinary action against related business Horace Burford and partners, trading as H Burford and Sons.
Birmingham
• Wolverhampton-based Derek William Woolley, trading as Plan A Logistics, was due to attend a disciplinary hearing on 3 April. The repute of the transport manager at the business was also set to be considered.
• A PI on 4 April was due to consider disciplinary action against MJM Transport Services, based in Brierley Hill, with the TC also looking at the transport manager’s repute.
• Disciplinary action against PK Transport, based in Kingswinford, was also due to be looked at during a PI on 4 April. The repute of the transport manager was also set to be discussed.
• On 5 April the TC will look at disciplinary action against Derek Fower, trading as Derek Fower Transport, based in Stoke-on-Trent, as well as the repute of the transport manager at the business.
• Metal and Waste Recycling, based in Birmingham, will attend a hearing on 13 April, at which disciplinary action will be considered.