Two companies fined £110,000 for construction site death

HSE Press Release: E077:04 - 2 June 2004

Two construction companies were fined a total of £110,000 at Stafford Crown Court on Thursday, 27 May 2004. The case followed an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the death of Mr Mark Warrallo at the Seedy Mill Water Treatment Works site in Lichfield, Staffordshire on 17 January 2002.

Morrison Construction Ltd (now known as AWG Construction Services Ltd) and RMD Kwikform Ltd had earlier both pleaded guilty to health and safety offences. Morrison Construction Ltd was in charge of the construction site to which Mr Warrallo, a driver employed by co-defendant RMD Kwikform Ltd, was delivering a load of steel formwork. Mr Warrallo was killed when a mobile crane at the site was unloading his lorry and a bundle of steelwork weighing just under a tonne fell onto him.

HSE Principal Inspector Joy Jones, who led the investigation, said:

"Mark Warrallo tragically lost his life in this incident and HSE's thoughts are with his family at this time. Lifting operations are by their very nature dangerous. That is why the law requires that all lifting operations, no matter how simple they may appear to be, should be properly planned and supervised by persons who are competent for the task."

Mr Warrallo's employer, RMD Kwikform Ltd, was fined a total of £100,000 and ordered to pay costs to HSE of £9,000 in respect of three offences: Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act (HSWA) 1974; and regulations 3(1)(a) and 10(1)(b) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (MHSWR) 1999. Morrison Construction Ltd was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £40,000 to HSE for an offence under regulation 8(1)(c) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) 1998.

Notes to editors

1. Section 2(1) of the HSWA states: 'It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all of his employees.'

2. Regulation 3(1)(a) of the MHSWR states: 'Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of-

(a) the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work; and

(b) the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking…..

3. Regulation 10(1)(b) of the MHSWR states: 'Every employer shall provide his employees with comprehensible and relevant information on-…..the preventative and protective measures;….'.

4. Regulation 8(1)(c) of LOLER states: ' Every employer shall ensure that every lifting operation involving lifting equipment is -

(a) properly planned by a competent person;
(b) appropriately supervised; and
(c) carried out in a safe manner."

5. RMD Kwikform Ltd pleaded guilty to all three charges but the judge did not award a separate penalty for those brought under the MHSWR.

6. The maximum penalty in a Crown Court for each offence listed here is an unlimited fine.

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