Employee killed by reversing truck

The Health and Safety Executive has prosecuted Rotherham Council and contractor Brocklebank & Company (Demolition) Limited after an employee was killed by a reversing truck during a council road surfacing operation.

Doncaster Crown Court heard during a delivery of asphalt to a site on Fitzwilliam Road, Roterham on 4 May 2007, the council employee, Gordon Duffield, was knocked down by the eight-wheeled tipper wagon which was operated by Brocklebank.

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council pleaded guilty to a breach of section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £75,000 and ordered to pay £18,350 costs.

Brocklebank & Company (Demolition) Limited of Sheffield, also pleaded guilty to a breach of section 3(1) of the same legislation, and was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £12,000 costs.

After the hearing, HSE Principal Inspector John Rowe said: "Mr Duffield s death demonstrates all too clearly the need for the movement of workplace vehicles to be carefully managed so that employees and other pedestrians are not put at risk. The council had a duty to protect their employee. Yet, vehicle movements at the site were uncontrolled despite the fact that tipper wagons had to reverse the length of the site. No one was designated to direct the movement and unloading of the lorry. The council were also aware that the worker was partially deaf as a result of exposure to noise at work - but had made no assessment of his suitability to continue as a road worker."

Inspector Rowe concluded: "Similarly, the contractor in this case had failed to take all reasonably practicable steps to protect those at the site from the risk of being hit by a reversing vehicle. In particular, instructions for the driver to do a 360 degree check were not communicated nor was CCTV fitted to eliminate the blind spot at the rear of the vehicle."

Mr Duffield s family, including wife Linda and daughters Claire and Lyn, added: "Gordon Duffield was a kind, loving husband, father and granddad who will be forever missed.

"Losing someone you love in such a horrific way is an extremely difficult thing to come to terms with. Knowing their death could have been prevented makes the loss even more unbearable.

"We can only hope that if anything positive can come out of the tragic circumstances we have found ourselves in, it is that lessons can be learned, and that lives can be saved through improved health and safety measures within companies and organisations in the same or similar industries."

Find out more about Driving Safely