Heater firm charged on man's death
Criminal charges have been brought against a Black Country company where a man was crushed to death in 2011.
The Health and Safety Executive has started proceedings against Roberts Gordon Europe Ltd in Wednesbury after 58-year-old Ronald Meese was killed in an industrial accident at their site on Darlaston Road in July 2011.
The company is due to appear at Sandwell Magistrates' Court on Monday morning.
The firm is charged under section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act, which reads 'it should be the duty of every employer to ensure as far as it is reasonably practicable the health, safety and welfare of all its employees'.
Mr Meese, of Kemsey Drive in Bilston, died at the Darlaston Road site after unloading a consignment of stacks of tubes with a forklift truck when the stack toppled, crushing him.
He was found lying over two bundles still on the forklift truck, with three of the bundles lying across his back. A pathologist's report found Mr Meese died of extensive multiple injuries caused by crushing. A jury at his inquest, held in October last year, criticised the firm for its 'unstable stacking system'.
The jury returned a verdict of death by accident, adding: "The unstable stacking system was a contributing factor." The jury also criticised a health and safety assessment which failed to comment on the method of stacking bundles of tubes, which weigh around 440lbs each.
According to evidence given by Mr Meese's former colleagues to the hearing, held at Smethwick Coroner's Court, the bundles were stacked five high with planks of wood between each level.
On the day he was crushed, Mr Meese was found by operations director Jeff Dyas. At the inquest Mr Dyas told the hearing that Mr Meese had been alive for around 10 minutes as they struggled to free him, before he passed away. Mr Dyas told the court external health and safety inspectors had not raised issues with the way the bundles were stored. However, he added that new safe working practices had been introduced.
