Port authority and shipping company fined £185,000 after drowning

Date:

21 September 2010

Release No:

COISE/2109

A Sussex port and an Italian shipping company have today been fined a total of £185,000 for health and safety failings after a worker drowned at Newhaven Docks.

Croydon Crown Court heard today that the Sardina Vera ferry, which was owned by Forship S.p.a, had docked at Newhaven late on 12 January 2005 when the incident happened.

Crew member Luigi Feola, 38, of Sardinia, was responsible for bringing fresh water on to the ship and was seen carrying a hose along a narrow strip of quay alongside the ship just before the incident.

An hour after the ship had docked someone on board heard a splash in the water and raised the alarm. A search was mounted immediately, but Mr Feola's body was not found until the next day. A post-mortem examination revealed he had suffered a head wound before drowning.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the quayside where Mr Feola was working had insufficient edge protection, was not properly lit and the risks of the job had not been properly assessed.

After the incident, HSE issued Newhaven Port & Properties Limited with an Improvement Notice, requiring the company to maintain the quay at Newhaven Docks, in a safe condition, but the company had still failed to comply with this by the end of April 2005.

HSE inspector, Paul Vinnicombe, said:

"It's absolutely vital that the quaysides at ports are maintained properly, are well lit and are fit for purpose.

"The lack of proper planning, combined with the appalling state of the quayside at the port, led to the unnecessary death of Mr Feola.

"On top of that, the risks involved in the job he was asked to do had not been assessed, and he was not give a suitable lifejacket, torch, or radio.

"This highlights why rigorous health and safety procedures are needed at working ports, and it is totally unacceptable that improvements identified following the incident were not made sooner."

Newhaven Port & Properties Limited, of East Quay, pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company also pleaded guilty to failing to maintain Newhaven Docks as required by an Improvement Notice issued after the incident. The company was fined £85,000 and ordered to pay costs of £34,000.

Forship S.p.a, of Porto Vado, Italy, pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £43,782.

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk
2. 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."
3. Section 3(1) of the Health and 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."

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