Tipping traged
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• A lorry driver whose truck accidentally overturned onto a parked pick-up, killing two men, was fined 2500 with 250 costs by Thames Magistrates in East London Last week.
Kenneth Chadwick, 36, of Rodeheath, Stoke-on-Trent, admitted that on January 31 1986 at Orchard Place, Poplar, he contravened the Health and Safety at Work Act. When discharging his tipping bulk tanker semi-trailer he failed to observe instructions affixed to the trailer which consequently became unstable and crashed onto the stationery pick-up truck.
Sarah Chaker, for the Health and Safety Council Executive, said that Chadwick, who works for Brown Bros Bulk Haulage, extended the tanker to its limits, or close to its limits, in a very short space of time. He had also failed to park the tractor and trailer in alignment, thereby reducing its stability and contravening instruction nine.
He also contravened instruction seven by failing to ensure the vehicle was on level ground before discharging, and he failed to tip the load progressively, Chadwick's lawyer, Janet Waddicor said this was Chadwick's tenth visit to the site although it was the first time he had used a tipping tanker at the site. He admitted to parking on an incline, but said other drivers had parked and unloaded from that position.
He disputed that he had not tipped progressively, in that only seven tonnes had been discharged at the time of the accident, and the length of time for total unloading would be one hour; the accident happened approximately twenty minutes after unloading started so he was not tipping too fast, said Waddicor.
"When Chadwick realised the vehicle was toppling, he rushed around to try and stop it, trying to bring the lever down, at great risk to himself. The reason he parked on a slope was because the area was congested and he did not want to block the road."
Stipendiary magistrate Brian Canharn said that through not complying with the safety instructions and through hastiness in positioning the vehicle, Chadwick had contributed substantially to the death of the two men. "No court will ever take away from you the sadness over these deaths that you will have for the rest of your days," said Canham.