SITA UK fined £200,000 after worker crushed to death06 June 2012

Recycling firm SITA UK Ltd has been hit with a £200,000 fine after a 21-year-old employee was crushed to death by a JCB at its Tipton paper baling site.

Mark Bate of Tipton, West Midlands was killed instantly when the arm of a JCB skid steer loader crushed his head in June 2008.

Bate had been driving the vehicle without proper training, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

The loader had also not been maintained in the eight months before the accident, the court was told.

HSE inspector David Evans said:

"The company's risk assessment should have identified these issues but did not cover the use of this machine. Transport at work is one of the biggest causes of deaths in the workplace, often through insufficient training or poorly maintained vehicles. There is no excuse for such basic failings, especially as free advice is available from HSE."

On the day of the accident, Bate had been working alone loading scrap paper onto a conveyor, the court heard.

He stopped the loader and raised the safety bar from across his lap to isolate the machine before leaning out of the vehicle.

However, the machine failed to isolate with the loaders arm striking Bate on the head.

Bate's family said justice had been done in a family statement.

SITA UK Ltd, of Grenfell Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £200,000 and ordered to pay £77,402 costs. It was also ordered to reimburse Mark's mother £4,450 in funeral expenses.

Max Gosney

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Health & Safety Executive

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