Stockport rubber company fined £175,000 following fatality

HSE press release: E063:04 - 12 May 2004

Sovereign Rubber Ltd of Stockport have been fined a total of £175,000 plus £20,000 costs after pleading guilty at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court to three charges arising from two incidents at their premises in Carrington Field St, Stockport in October 2001.

On 29 October 2001 company employee Malcolm France, a maintenance engineer, died while attempting to clear a blockage on a Carter Mk 3 rubber mixing machine. Nearly three weeks earlier, on 10 October 2001, his colleague Lee Williams had suffered severe lacerations to his hand while dealing with the same machine but this accident was not reported to the Health and Safety Executive.

Sovereign Rubber was fined £175,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 costs in relation to two charges under Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and one charge of Regulation 3(2) of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995.

David Laurence Wilcox, a director of Sovereign Rubber Ltd, had previously pleaded not guilty to a personal charge under Section 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act in relation to the death of Mr France. The case is now scheduled to be heard before Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on 17 January 2005.

Notes to editors

1. Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 requires that an employer should conduct its undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons in their employment are not exposed to risks to their health and safety.

2.. Regulation 3(2) of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995 requires the reporting of work-related accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences as soon as possible and within ten days.

3. Section 37(1) of the HSW states that where an offence is committed by a body corporate is proved to be attributable to any neglect on the part of any director, or similar officer of the body corporate, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of that offence.

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