A Nottinghamshire local authority has been fined 25,000 and ordered to pay nearly 13,000 in costs after a member of the public was killed by a reversing refuse truck.
Derrick Baines, 76, of Mellish Road, Langold in Nottinghamshire was killed when he was struck by a refuse lorry on his mobility scooter on July 10 2008. Mr Baines suffered multiple injuries from the incident and died later in hospital.
Bassetlaw district council pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at Nottingham Crown Court, yesterday
(July 3).
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) told the court that the lorry, which was on a missed bin collection in Mellish Road, only had a one-man crew. It said that the incident could have been prevented had there been a reversing assistant at the back of the vehicle.
The HSE said the driver was only aware something was wrong when he noticed shopping spilling into the road behind him. He stopped the lorry and found Mr Baines trapped underneath.
Blind spots
Commenting on the case after the hearing, HSE inspector David Butler said: If the council had staffed the refuse collection lorry appropriately then Mr Baines would probably still be alive today. Very large vehicles such as this have a number of blind spots and it was impractical to expect a lone driver to reverse safely without the aid of a colleague walking behind to check the path was clear.”
Mr Butler continued: “These lorries are fitted with flashing lights and a reversing warning system but the council needed to take into consideration that system was not adequate and another worker should have been present and could have prevented this needless loss of life.
Sympathy
The council said that the incident was a single weak link in an otherwise comprehensive system.
A spokesman for Bassetlaw council told letsrecycle.com: The council would like to take this opportunity to once again express its profound sympathy to the family of Derrick Baines and all affected by his death.
At yesterday’s Crown Court hearing in Nottingham, the Court accepted the council was well organised and motivated in its Health and Safety management and that the issue which contributed to the accident was the single weak link in an otherwise comprehensive system.
The spokesman added: The Court acknowledged there is substantial mitigation in this case, including good Health and Safety management, a previously good record and the comprehensive review of procedures that followed the accident. The Court also stated that the council’s culpability was very low.
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