A North Yorkshire company has been fined £250,000 after the death of a worker who became trapped in machinery holding a five-tonne steel pipe.
The 63-year-old man was employed by Cleveland Steel and Tubes Ltd, of Dalton, near Thirsk, when the incident happened in November 2022.
York Magistrates Court heard today that the man became entangled in the machine, which is used to strip coatings off lengths of metal pipe. Despite the efforts of colleagues and paramedics, he died at the scene.
An investigation by North Yorkshire Council’s environmental health team found the machine did not have a suitable guard which would have prevented people coming into contact with its moving parts.
Cleveland Steel and Tubes Ltd pleaded guilty to one offence under Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The charge related to failures in working practices at the site, including a failure to ensure dangerous parts of machinery were suitably guarded.
The court heard environmental health officials, working alongside a specialist inspector from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), served a prohibition notice on the company at the time of the incident, preventing further use of the equipment until suitable guarding had been installed.
Cleveland Steel and Tubes Ltd did not appeal the notice and complied with this requirement in June 2023.
As well as the fine, the company was ordered to pay costs of £9,796 along with a victim surcharge of £2,000.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for regulatory services, Cllr Greg White, said: “Our sympathies go out to the family and friends of the man who lost his life in this incident.
“We hope the fact that we have taken the actions we have demonstrate our commitment to ensuring people can work in a safe and secure environment.
“We believe this death could have been prevented had the company adhered to safe working practices and procedures, in particular ensuring the dangerous moving parts of the machine in question were guarded.
“The health, safety and welfare of employees is paramount, and we would remind all businesses of their duty to ensure equipment is safe to use and the risks of doing so have been suitably assessed.
“North Yorkshire Council will not hesitate to take action where we find these standards have not been met.”
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