South London directors fined after falling stones kill man

Date:

19 April 2010

Release No:

COILDN/0416

Two directors of a marble and granite manufacturing company have been fined after a worker died and two others were injured when six tonnes of stone slabs fell on them.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Marble City Ltd and company directors Gavin and Jamie Waldron following an incident on 20 March 2008 outside the company's site in Wandsworth, London while the slabs were being unloaded from a truck.

Judge Taylor at Southwark Crown Court heard MCL director Gavin Waldron was supervising the unloading operation, which employees Ronald Douglas (known as Ron) and Franco Moscelli were helping with.

Driver Gelsomino Pacifico, an Italian national, was instructed to park his truck and trailer nearer the yard. This meant the vehicle was parked on a slope on the road, causing the stone slabs on the trailer to lean towards the kerb.

Mr Pacifico, Mr Moscelli and Mr Douglas got into the trailer to begin the unloading the slabs. As they carried this out, six tonnes of stone slabs that had not been restrained, toppled and fell, crushing Mr Douglas. The slabs fell on Mr Douglas as they had not been restrained. He died from his injuries in hospital a week later.

The court heard that Mr Moscelli and Mr Pacifico tried to catch the slabs but became trapped themselves. Mr Moscelli sustained injuries in his right arm which has led to parasthesia (irritation of nerves in the limb) and Mr Pacifico sustained bruising to his right arm.

Marble City Ltd of Smugglers Way, in Wandsworth, pleaded guilty to breaching sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £47,564.00

Directors, Gavin and Jamie Waldron, also each pleaded guilty to two breaches of Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by allowing their company to commit breaches due to their negligence. They were fined £10,000 each.

The HSE investigation found that MCL had operated an unsafe system of work for unloading deliveries to the site for several years. Failings included not insisting on deliveries being unloaded on flat level ground and ensuring that the slabs were restrained at all times.

The investigation also found that Gavin Waldron failed to establish Mr Pacifico's competence or make any effort to brief him on the MCL unloading operation. It was company policy only to let competent drivers to be involved with unloading but Mr Pacifico was allowed simply by claiming to have years of experience.

HSE Inspector, Andrew Verrall-Withers, said:

"Employers need to check how well they are protecting their employees and not find out they are failing when tragically it is too late and someone is hurt and killed.

"The Defendant's system of work for unloading slabs of stone was dangerous, but it would have been fairly easy to make it much safer. It is vital that work like this is planned ahead and people do not just react to something when it starts to go wrong."

Notes to editors

1. Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 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 his employees."
2. Section 3(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety."
3. Section 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states: "Where an offence committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to have been attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly."

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