Aram fined GBP 75,000 for health and safety breaches

A company is being fined £75,000 after health and safety infractions led to an employee's death.

In July 2004, a quarry worker was killed after becoming caught in the fixed guard of a crusher machine.

Aram Resources admitted breaking the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and the Quarries Regulations 1999.

It will also pay costs of £30,000.

An inspector for the HSE Simon Edwards says all employers have a duty of care to their workers.

He claims a quarry worker is twice as likely to be killed at work than a construction worker.

"Every quarry operator, no matter how small the business, must by law identify the risks on site and ensure that they are properly controlled," he says.

Accusing the company of incompetence in failing to recognise their machinery's failure to meet health and safety standards, he states it also should have supplied more training and supervision.

The Hard Target Initiative has reduced accidents by 55 per cent, the HSE reports, but more than 2,700 injuries have been recorded in the last eight years.