A company has been fined £1.6m after a 24-year-old man was crushed to death by work platform sections that fell from a lorry mounted crane during an unloading operation.
Jack Phillips lost his life on 8 August 2019 at South Cliff Tower in Eastbourne, while working for Brand Energy and Infrastructure Services UK, which has operating licences for 144 trucks and 117 trailers.
Phillips had been assisting while temporary Mast Climber Work Platform sections were being lifted by a lorry mounted crane.
The load fell on top of him when the lifting sling, which was attached to the crane, snapped.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Sussex Police found Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services UK, trading as Lyndon SGB, failed to properly plan the lifting operation of the work platform.
The company, a provider of temporary access equipment, had failed to identify a requirement for safe exclusion zones. The company also failed to have a suitable robust system in place to ensure all accessories had been thoroughly examined or disposed of when expired. This resulted in out-of-date slings being used.
Philip’s parents, Scot and Nichola, said in a statement: “How do you put into words the utter devastation you feel. Our child, our only son, is dead. Our life, our family’s life has now changed forever.
“We are no longer complete without Jack, we will never see our baby boy, the boy we nurtured and helped grow into a young man, get married, raise a family, or grow old.
“His sisters will never have the honour of him being an uncle to their children. We will never have the honour of seeing or meeting his children. Jack was a happy go lucky ‘Jack the lad’. Everyone who had the pleasure of meeting him, loved him.”
Brand Energy and Infrastructure Services UK Ltd, of Kingston Road, Leatherhead, Surrey pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £.6m and ordered to pay £23,193.60 in costs at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on 27 November 2024.
HSE principal inspector Ross Carter said: “This tragic incident led to the wholly avoidable death of a young man. This death could so easily have been prevented if Jack’s employer had fulfilled its statutory duty to plan and manage the risks associated with lifting equipment and lifting operations.
“Brand Energy and Infrastructure Services UK Ltd failed in its duty of care to all its operatives, including Jack, in the way it planned and implemented the lifting operations and the slack customs and practices it allowed to become part of the safety culture with regard to lifting.”
This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Alan Hughes and supported by HSE paralegal officer Helen Jacob.
