Company fined after death of Doncaster worker at Immingham

Date:

29 October 2010

Release No:

YH/251/10

A Durham company has been fined £120,000 at Grimsby Crown Court after safety failings led to the death of a man at its coal processing plant in Immingham.

Hargreaves (UK) Services Ltd of Esh Winning, Durham, a major energy support services company, pleaded guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was also ordered to pay £35,000 in costs. The prosecution followed the death of Alan Noddle, who suffered fatal injuries when he was run over by a loading shovel on 20 July 2007.

Mr Noddle, 48, from Carcroft, Doncaster, worked as a maintenance fitter for Hargreaves' sister company, Norec Ltd, and was working at the Hargreaves' Astra Site at Immingham Docks on the day of the fatal incident.

He died when he was struck by a large loading shovel being used to transfer coal from one area of the plant to another. The driver of the vehicle could not see Mr Noddle as he walked across the stockyard because the large bucket on the loading shovel blocked his view.

After the hearing HSE Inspector Geoffrey Clark said:

"This is a tragic case where a man died as a result of dangerous practices at the site. The loading shovel severely obscured the driver's view, yet despite this it was common practice for employees to be allowed to walk in the area where these machines were being operated.

"Workplace transport is one of HSE's priorities, as transport injuries are a major cause of death and injury in the workplace. Although this is an extreme case, I would urge all employers to be aware of the dangers of moving vehicles of all sizes and to put appropriate measures in place to segregate people from moving vehicles to prevent another tragedy from happening."

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 (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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