World's End Waste Ltd pleaded guilty to charges that they had failed to ensure the safety of their staff at the company's Wandsworth site. The incident in question involved the death of 32-year-old Sam Boothman, a tipper driver who was hit from behind by the bucket of a shovel truck on June 1, 2004.
” It is a very dangerous practice to drive a shovel truck, with the bucket raised a few feet off the ground, so that the driver's forward vision is obscured. “
– Judge Paul Focke
Mr Boothman had discharged his load at the transfer shed and had moved the truck to another part of the site to secure its tailgate, when he was hit from behind by the bucket of a shovel truck driven by another employee. He suffered severe multiple crushing injuries and died shortly after.
In a case brought by the Health and Safety Executive, the company based in Stewart's Lane Industrial Estate, was fined for breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA) and ordered to pay 4,982 costs.
The court heard that precautions that have since been taken at the Wandsworth site could have prevented the incident.
Dangerous
Commenting on the case, the presiding judge – His Honour Judge Paul Focke QC – said: “It is a very dangerous practice to drive a shovel truck, with the bucket raised a few feet off the ground, so that the driver's forward vision is obscured. The penalty should reflect public concern at an unnecessary loss of life. Companies must be deterred from operating in a slack way.”
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HSE principal inspector Margaret Pretty, said simple steps could have prevented the tragedy. Speaking after the case, she said: “The case shows everyone in the waste transfer industry the importance of planning for workplace transport and having safe systems of work in place.
“A one-way traffic system, the use of a banksman and designated pedestrian walkways, all of which were subsequently introduced by the company, may have prevented this fatality,” Ms Pretty added.
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