Council fined £75,000 over worker death

Martin Slack

A YORKSHIRE council has been fined 75,000 after one of its employees was killed by a reversing truck while working on a road surfacing project.

Gordon Duffield, a paver at Rotherham Council, was knocked down by an eight-wheeled tipper wagon as it delivered asphalt to a site on Fitzwilliam Road, Rotherham, on May 4 2007.

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The vehicle belonged to contractors Brocklebank and Company (Demolition) Ltd, which was also fined 30,000 for its part in the incident by a judge at Doncaster Crown Court.

Both the council and the Sheffield-based contractor pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety legislation at the hearing.

After the verdict, John Rowe, a principal inspector from the Health and Safety Executive said: “The council had a duty to protect their employee. Yet, vehicle movements at the site were uncontrolled despite the fact that tipper wagons had to reverse the length of the site.

“No one was designated to direct the movement and unloading of the lorry. The council was also aware that the worker was partially deaf as a result of exposure to noise at work – but had made no assessment of his suitability to continue as a road worker.”

Rotherham Council was ordered to pay 18,350 in prosecution costs while Brocklebank was also ordered to pay 12,000 costs.