Tipton firm fined £200k after worker crushed to death

A firm has been fined £200,000 after it was revealed a 21-year-old man crushed to death in a horrific accident at its recycling plant had not been trained to use the machine that killed him.

Mark Bate should have been given instruction two days before the tragedy at the Sita works at Coneygre Industrial Estate in Tipton but bosses scrapped the plan because of staff shortages, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told yesterday.

The father of one, who died instantly, had been employed full time for a year but had only received an hour-long introduction to working the loader he was using to put cardboard and paper onto a conveyor belt, said Mr Ian Bridge, for the Health and Safety Executive.

Disaster struck when Mr Bate, of Moat Road, Princes End, pulled the safety bar to stop the machine before leaning out of the window, perhaps to free a piece of trapped paper.

The hydraulic arm of the digger suddenly moved and crushed his head between the grab attachment and the chassis, continued Mr Bridge.

This happened because a previously unreported fault overrode the safety arm deployed by Mr Bate that was meant to prevent the machine from operating, revealed Mr Stuart Denney, representing Sita.

The lawyer continued: "Nobody knew that could happen. The design flaw was entirely outside the company's control and this accident could have happened whatever else took place."

However he admitted company rules had been broken to allow the victim to operate the machine without training on June 12, 2008. Sita admitted breaking health and safety law. As well as the fine, it was ordered to pay £77,402 costs along with the £4,450 costs of the funeral of Mr Bate.

Sita said safety had been tightened since the fatality.