Tragic death of worker at Wednesbury site could have been avoided
A grandfather was killed while doing a job for which he had not been properly trained and had not been risk-assessed by his employer, a judge heard.
Production supervisor Ronnie Meese was crushed to death when heavy metal tubes toppled on to him while being stacked at the Roberts Gordon Europe Ltd site in Wednesbury.
The 58-year-old had to get on and off his forklift truck to install the irregular-sized timber batons that separated the 200 kilo bundles of tubes piled up to eight-and-a-half feet high without restraints, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard yesterday.
Roberts Gordon Europe Ltd admitted failing to ensure the health and safety of the father of three Ronnie Meese.
Mr Barry Berlin, prosecuting, explained: "They were being placed onto inherently unstable stacks when several of the bundles fell and caused his death." He revealed that an investigation into the tragedy uncovered 'multiple and systemic health and safety failures' by the employer.
The court heard he had not been given specific training or instruction on stacking the tube bundles. Binding holding the packs of tubes together had broken and a stack had fallen down without causing injury before Mr Meese was killed on July 27, 2011, the court heard. Mr Berlin concluded: "This tragic accident was utterly foreseeable.
"If the law had been followed, this man would not be dead." An earlier inquest heard that Mr Meese of Kempsey Drive, Bilston, was found with three of the bundles lying across his back.
He started his 34-year career with Combat Engineering based at Oxford Street, Bilston and continued on the staff after it was acquired by Roberts Gordon Europe in 1999 and moved to its current site in Darlaston Road, Wednesbury, in 2007.
Mr Bernard Thorogood, defending, said: "The cost of making good the stacking system was not great. It was a terrible oversight and not an attempt to save money."
Fining the firm £150,000 with £33,000 costs, Judge Michael Dudley said: "The breach that caused this death was significant and could have been easily remedied."
Mr Meese's sister Valerie Whitehouse said after the case: "Ronnie would still be alive today if the company had followed the rules and we can never forgive them for that. He was such fun, always smiling and a great bloke. He was certainly my best friend and I am absolutely lost without him."
