£650,000 fines following sugar factory death

HSE Press Release: E027:05 - 22 February 2005

Fines totalling £650,000 have been imposed on two companies following the death of a woman at a British Sugar plc factory.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted British Sugar plc and contractor VM Plant Ltd at Bury St Edmunds Crown Court after dispatch clerk Lorraine Waspe was killed on 5 February 2003. The 40-year-old British Sugar employee was run-over by a shovelling vehicle at the firm’s factory in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

British Sugar admitted failing to ensure that Lorraine Waspe and other workers were not exposed to risks to their safety and thereby breaching Section 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act (HSWA) 1974 and was fined £300,000.

The company was also fined £100,000 for failing to ensure that workplace transport was operated safely at the site. In particular, it failed to segregate pedestrians from areas where vehicles were in operation adequately and ordered to pay £31,457 costs.

Cambridge-based contractor VM Plant Ltd, which owned and operated the shovelling vehicle involved in the accident was found guilty and fined £250,000 for failing to ensure the health and safety of employees and people not in its employment.

In particular, the court heard that VM Plant failed to carry out a sufficient risk assessment covering the operation of shovel vehicles at the site. This would have identified the need to put in place a safe system of work, such as marked pedestrian routes and fitting fixed mirrors to improve drivers’ vision, to prevent the risk of pedestrians coming into contact with the moving vehicles. In addition, VM Plant failed to provide drivers of shovel vehicles with adequate training to ensure they operated the vehicles safely. The firm was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £13,739.

Commenting on the case, investigating HSE inspector Frank Sykes said: “The court has recognised the importance of preventing accidents by ensuring that all workplace transport is conducted to suitable standards. The level of fine reflects the seriousness of this incident and the very tragic loss of life.”

Notes to editors

Summary of charges and fines imposed.

British Sugar plc:

1. Failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of employees, contrary to Sections 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, namely that in February 2003 being an employer, failed to ensure the health and safety at work of all its employees at its factory at Bury St. Edmunds. Result: £300,000 fine.

2. Failing to ensure the health and safety of people not in its employment, contrary to Sections 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, namely that in February 2003, being an employer, failed to conduct its undertaking at its factory at Bury St. Edmunds in such a way as to ensure that persons not in its employment, in particular employees of VM Plant Ltd and the drivers of large goods vehicles, were not thereby exposed to risks to their health and safety. No separate penalty was levied for this charge.

3. Failing to organise a workplace in such a way that pedestrians and vehicles could circulate in a safe manner, contrary to the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, regulation 17(1). Result £100,000 fine.

VM Plant Limited

1. Failing to ensure that persons who may be affected by its undertaking were not exposed to risks to their health and safety, contrary to Sections 3(1), 33(1)(a) and 33(1A) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, namely that in February 2003, being an employer, failed to ensure that persons not in its employment at British Sugar plc, Bury St. Edmunds, and in particular Lorraine Waspe and the drivers of large goods vehicles, were not thereby exposed to risks to their health and safety. Result £250,000 fine.

2. Failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of employees, contrary to Sections 2(1), 33(1)(a) and 33(1A) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, namely that in February 2003, being an employer, failed to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of all its employees at British Sugar plc, Bury St. Edmunds, and in particular drivers of loading shovels working in and in the vicinity of the warehouses. No separate penalty was levied for this charge.

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