Wood Recycling Firm Fined After Man Dies In Load Shovel Accident

A Manchester wood recycling firm received a huge fine for the death of a worker in an accident at work, and personal injury solicitors Manchester would like other companies to learn lessons from this incident.

Raymond Thomas Burns, a 43-year-old from Eston, was working at UK Wood Recycling Ltd's premises in Wilton, Redcar, when he was struck by a 'load shovel' loading vehicle, which was transporting material across the site.

Mr Burns had been walking to a skip after working on a wood pile when he was struck by the load shovel. He died at the scene.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the business had not put measures in place to segregate vehicle and pedestrian traffic on the site. This left members of staff unprotected from moving vehicles, and had led to a number of other near misses and vehicle collisions at the workplace. No win no fee solicitors Manchester would urge any businesses that use moving vehicles to ensure that effective vehicle traffic / pedestrian traffic segregation measures are in place.

UK Wood Recycling Led, of Lumb Farm in the Little Moss area of Droylsden, admitted breaching the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulatgions and was fined £200,000 with an additional £34,000 in costs.

Bruno Porter, an inspector for the HSE, said that UK Wood Recycling Ltd had simply accepted the unsafe system of work and was solely relying on workers and drivers noticing each other before accidents happened.

He described the death as "entirely preventable" and said it took the life of a "conscientious and hard-working" employee.

Most of the deaths and serious injuries in the waste industry relate to transportation and a failure to control the movements of pedestrians and vehicles. The sector has a particularly high rate of preventable workplace accidents, and employers must do all they can to drive this figure down.

Personal injury solicitors Preston can help people deal with the fallout of work-related injuries, but as seen in the above case, the consequences of these injuries can be fatal, and no amount of personal injury compensation will recompense a family for the loss of a loved one.