Tower crane deaths company fined

WD Bennett’s Plant & Services Ltd has been fined £125,000 with costs of £264,299.

Having been convicted earlier at Chichester Crown Court of two health and safety breaches that led to the death of two workers and injury to a third on a construction site in Durrington, Worthing, on 11th February 2005.

The deceased men had been working on the jib of a crane as a third man worked on its mast. He was instructed to begin de-torquing the crane’s mast bolts and should have done so one-by-one, and then re-tightened each bolt in turn.

However, he was not trained in this job and he failed to re-tighten the bolts, leaving them partly undone which caused the crane to collapse as it was turned, throwing the men from the crane.

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