The co-owner of a South Lakeland farm has been sentenced after an employee was found dead under the wheel of a tractor.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Stuart Webster following the death of Thomas Phizacklea at Aurora Park Farm in Scales near Ulverston. The body of the 34-year-old from Dalton-in-Furness was discovered on 2 July 2009.
The tractor which caused Thomas Phizacklea's death
Barrow Crown Court was told today (11 March 2013) that the 27 year old tractor was in a poor condition, there had been problems starting it in the past and the handbrake did not work.
An HSE investigation concluded the most likely explanation for Mr Phizacklea's death was that he left the tractor running in neutral without the handbrake on as he got out of the cab to walk around the vehicle.
His body was found trapped between the front offside wheel and a mound of earth, after the tractor rolled forwards.
Stuart Webster, 49, of Main Street, Greenodd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 5(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 by failing to ensure the tractor was in good working order. He was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £29,184 in prosecution costs.
Mr Phizacklea's widow, Laura, 31, said:
Thomas Phizacklea
"At the time of Tom's death, I was ten weeks pregnant with our fourth child. I couldn't face going home without him so we stayed at Mum and Dad's until after Tomasina was born.
"Generally I feel anger and guilt, and that Tom should still be here. I miss him loads. I sometimes think that if only I'd had a job and gone out to work and Tom had looked after the children, he would still be here.
"He was a kind and gentle man with a soft nature. He would do anything for anyone, and loved helping out at my parents' farm in his spare time.
"People deserve to be kept safe and looked after when they go to work but Tom wasn't. He needed the job to care for me and the children but it cost him his life."
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Peter Hamer added:
"Mr Phizacklea's death could and should have been prevented. The danger of an incident was apparent, given the previous problems with the tractor that Stuart Webster failed to remedy.
"It should have been standard practice to apply the handbrake and switch off the engine before getting out of vehicles at the farm. However it wasn't possible for Mr Phizacklea to do this as the handbrake on the tractor wasn't working and it struggled to restart.
"Stuart Webster had a legal duty to ensure work could be carried out safely on his farm. He should have either kept up with the maintenance of the tractor, or taken it out of use altogether."
Thomas Phizacklea was one of 39 farm workers to be killed while at work in Great Britain in 2009/10. Nearly 500 people also suffered a major injury.
The most common cause of serious and fatal injuries in agriculture involves moving and overturning vehicles. Farmers should make sure the braking system on vehicles is working and properly maintained, so that workers can use the 'safe stop' procedure.
This involves putting the handbrake on, leaving the gears in neutral, turning the engine off and removing the key before leaving your seat or when anyone else approaches or is working on the vehicle.
More information on farm safety is available at www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture.
Notes to editors
Regional reporters should call the appropriate Regional News Network press office.
Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by the Regional News Network
Regional reporters should call the appropriate Regional News Network press office who act as HSE's Press Office throughout Great Britain.
Social media
Javascript is required to use HSE website social media functionality.
Follow HSE on Twitter:
Follow @H_S_E