Firm fined £80,000 on fall driver death
A portable building company has been fined £80,000 after one of its lorry drivers died falling from a cabin he was delivering in the Black Country.
Grandfather-of-three Keith Boulton, of Bilston, died in January last year after the accident at a construction site near The Hawthorns in West Bromwich. He was an experienced driver known to friends as Trucker.
He was working for the Aldridge depot of Mobile Mini UK Ltd, the UK wing of an American company that provides and supplies temporary buildings and storage cabins.
The 58-year-old had worked for the company since April 2007 and was attaching a crane to the top of a cabin on his lorry to lift it into place at the site near the Midland Metro line off Halfords Lane, Smethwick, but fell 13ft as he attempted to climb back down the ladder. He died from head injuries the following day.
He was not wearing a company safety harness or helmet, and the ladder he used was worn out and unstable, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard. The firm was sentenced yesterday after bosses had previously admitted breaching health and safety laws.
Mr Thomas Panton, defending, said that at the time of Mr Boulton's death, the company was trialling alternative methods to lift the units from the bottom to cut down on the need for drivers to work at height.
"That process of looking into and rolling out the bottom lifting technology was accelerated," he said.
"About 75 per cent of the unit stock can now be lifted in that way."
He added that there had been a "complete overhaul" of company safety procedures and safety training.
The firm, which the court was told had a turnover of £21million, was also ordered to pay more than £8,000 in costs.
