A County Durham engineering firm has been fined £100,000 after a worker was crushed to death while clearing a jam on a production line.
Father-of-two Paul Clark, 52, of Newton Aycliffe, was a multi-skilled fitter at Tallent Automotive Ltd-Gestamp Automocion (formerly ThyssenKrupp Tallent Ltd), where he died on 8 July 2009 after becoming trapped between a moving carriage and its tracks.
Durham Crown Court heard that Mr Clark had been working in the press shop of the company's Newton Aycliffe plant, which manufactures components for the car industry.
Mr and Mrs Clark
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that a pneumatically-powered carriage, part of a large press which produced chassis components, had jammed. The carriage, known as a destacker, was used to remove empty magazines which had previously contained metal blanks, away from the press.
Mr Clark was attempting to clear the jam after the carriage had stopped halfway along its tracks. He had opened the interlocked safety gates to gain access within the fenced enclosure of the machine. This isolated the equipment from the electricity supply, but did not isolate and make safe the pneumatic power element of the machine. The equipment for controlling movement of the carriage was located within the tracks the carriage ran on, which meant he had to work in a dangerous area in order to try and establish the cause of the jam.
While working on the equipment between the tracks, the carriage moved suddenly and trapped Mr Clark between the carriage and the support structure at the end of the tracks. He died as a result of traumatic asphyxia due to crush injuries.
The HSE investigation found that there was no safe system for carrying out work within the destacker area, as the pneumatic power for the machinery was not isolated before entering the interlocked enclosure. Although the electrical hazards were recognised by the company, the risks from the pneumatically operated equipment were not.
It was also found that the controls for adjusting the destacker carriage were located in a position of danger. There was also insufficient information available to Mr Clark to show how the pneumatic supply worked and how he could safely make the necessary adjustments.
HSE Inspector Martin Baillie said:
"This tragic death could have been avoided had the company put in place a safe system of work in place which ensured that risks from all energy sources had been identified and made safe before employees could gain access to the enclosure where the equipment was located.
"It is vitally important that safe isolation procedures are developed and used before attempting to make repairs to equipment.
"In this instance, Tallent Automotive Limited-Gestamp Automocion has instead relied on the training and experience of individuals without providing a safe system of work or adequate information for them. This was a significant cause of the incident which led to Mr Clark's death."
Tallent Automotive Limited-Gestamp Automocion, of Aycliffe Industrial Estate, Newton Aycliffe, pleaded guilty of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £100,000. The company was also ordered to pay £44,000 costs.
Speaking after the case Mr Clark's wife Carole said:
"Paul was a tremendous husband, father, family man and friend to so many. What happened that fateful day has not only devastated the lives of those nearest to Paul but affected the lives of many others.
"We as a family remain of the view that Paul's death was completely avoidable. Paul was working in an isolated, hazardous area alone. When the accident happened his vital organs were not damaged, in fact he had only broken a few ribs and the Coroner felt his death could possibly have been avoided had he been extricated earlier. What he must have gone through in those minutes doesn't bear thinking about.
"We would hope that since this accident Tallent Automotive and other companies nationwide will introduce measures to have another worker close by to raise the alarm immediately when workers are in hazardous conditions. This could prevent further fatalities.
"The HSE has reported on the events leading up to the accident and I thank them for conducting such a full and detailed investigation. Special thanks to Inspector Martin Baillie for his compassion, professionalism and support.
"We are pleased to now be able to draw a line under this process and try to re-build our lives. The final word has to be for Paul, who we miss so much. He leaves such a big void in our lives. He led such a full life but had so much more to live for, he has already missed his son's graduation, birth of family members and won't be present at his son's wedding next year. Nobody expects their husband to go out to work on an ordinary day and not come home."
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Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by COI News & PR (North East)
Regional reporters should call the appropriate Regional News Network press office who act as HSE's Press Office throughout Great Britain.
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