Crush tragedy firm fined £188k

A vehicle maker has been fined £166,000 for health and safety violations after a 39-year-old top mechanic was crushed to death in Staffordshire.

Simon Rose, a field engineer at Dennis Eagle Limited, was trying to cure a brake fault on a bin wagon at a council depot, Stafford Crown Court heard. The father-of-two, who was based at the Aldridge Service Centre, had wedged bricks under the wheels but had left the vehicle in gear with the engine running while working underneath it.

James Puzey, prosecuting, said the brake released and the vehicle moved forwards over the bricks, causing massive and fatal injuries.

On May 24, 2006, Mr Rose, of Ferndale Drive, Chasetown, was called to the Millers Lane depot, Burton upon Trent to work on an East Staffordshire Borough Council vehicle.

Warwick-based Dennis Eagle Limited admitted failing to ensure employees were not exposed to risks to health and safety. The firm was also ordered to pay £22,612 costs.

Mr Puzey said: "There were serious failings on behalf of the company on assessing risks and monitoring the work of their field service engineers."

Field service engineers told Health and Safety Executive investigators that it was up to them to decide what was safe and what was not.

The firm did not issue proper choccs prior to the fatal accident and now does.

Mr Rose was not given training by the firm in driving their vehicles although he requested it.

Patrick Limb, defending, said that by pleading guilty the firm gave up a previously unblemished record in relation to health and safety.

It expressed genuine regret and remorse over Mr Rose's death and accepted frankly its failings.

The field service engineers were regarded as 'la creme de la creme' and Mr Rose was in the top echelon, said Mr Limb.

The firm was now owned by a Spanish consortium and a large portion of its profits were going towards servicing debts of £100 million.