Contractors fined for death at a recycling centre
22 August 2024
An engineering company and crane hire firm in the United Kingdom have been fined after a father-of-three was crushed to death by a machine at a recycling facility.
Russell Hartley was killed during the removal of heavy equipment at recycling facility in 2020. (PHOTO: HSE)
Russell Hartley was a self-employed engineer from Sheffield who had been hired by Premier Engineering Projects to remove and replace machinery at a recycling facility in London.
He died on February 24, 2020, when a Trisomat sorting screen - colloquially known as a ‘flip-flop’ - fell on top of him while its was being removed from the facility.
The flip-flop machine, which was fixed within a metal structure at height in a bay at the recycling site, was being lifted by a crane supplied by M&M Mobile Crane Hire.
During the lifting operation, the flip-flop became stuck in its bay and as both Russell, who was assisting the lifting operation with a telehandler, and the crane operator each moved their machines to dislodge it, the machine fell forwards onto Russell.
Another worker, who was standing on the flip-flop at the time, was thrown off the machine but escaped serious injury.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) - the government regulator for workplace health and safety, found that the incident was entirely avoidable and that 48-year-old Russell - a grandfather of three - would still be alive had the work been planned, managed and monitored to a sufficient standard.
The HSE investigation found that the two contractors, Premier Engineering Projects and M&M Mobile Crane Hire had failed to ensure the safety of those involved in carrying out the replacement of the Trisomat screen.
It said: “The work being undertaken was not properly planned, supervised or carried out safely, and the assessment of the risks arising from the work was both unsuitable and insufficient.
“Mr Hartley was working with nine other engineers, also hired by Premier Engineering Projects, as well as three workers from M&M Mobile Crane Hire Ltd at the site.”
The Trisomat screen involved in the incident. (PHOTO: HSE)
Premier Engineering Projects of South Yorkshire pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and was fined £28,000 (US$36,700) and ordered to pay over £9,250 (US$12,150) in costs at the Old Bailey on 1 August 2024.
M&M Mobile Crane Hire of Slough also pleaded guilty to breaching regulations and was fined £48,000 (US$63,000) and ordered to pay £9,500 (US$12,450) in costs.
HSE inspector Mark Slater, who investigated this incident alongside HSE inspector David Beaton, said: “Risks arising from the lifting and moving of equipment of this size and nature are entirely foreseeable, and work of this nature should be afforded the utmost respect and care.”
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