Companies await sentencing

Companies await sentencing over workers' deaths.

Eurolift (Tower Cranes) Ltd has pleaded guilty to breaching S2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and r.8(3) of the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 in connection with an incident on a construction site at a school in Durrington, Worthing, on 11th February 2005 in which 2 men died.

The deceased men had been working on the jib of a crane, a 3rd man, who escaped with serious injuries, was working on the mast of the crane de-torquing the mast bolts. He should have slacked off the bolts one-by-one, and then re-tightened each bolt in turn, but he was not trained in this job and he failed to re-tighten the bolts, leaving them partly un-done. This caused the crane to collapse as it was turned.

At Chichester Crown Court WD Bennett's Plant & Services Ltd pleaded not guilty to breaching safety legislation but a jury returned a guilty verdict on both counts, it being found that it had breached S.3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and r.8(3) of the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996.

Article created by Editor. (info@safetynetscotland.co.uk)