A company has been fined £1m after a banksman was killed by a reversing HGV during a delivery in Manchester.
An investigation by the health and safety executive (HSE) found that grocery supplier Bestway Northern had failed to implement a safe system of work for vehicle movements following the death of employee Lee Warburton in February 2019.
The 32-year-old was directing his colleague who was reversing the lorry into an unloading area of a store in central Manchester.
While attempting to guide the HGV, Warburton became trapped between the vehicle and a wall. He sustained fatal crush injuries.
Warburton’s partner, Hayley Tomlinson, described the day he died as the worst of her life: “To be taken in such a cruel manner made it even harder,” she said.
“Knowing the pain and fear Lee must have gone through was unbearable. But nothing compares to the moment I had to tell our children their daddy was never coming home.”
The HSE said as well as not having a safe system in place, Bestway Northern had also failed to adequately assess the risks involved in the task or provide sufficient training for employees acting as banksmen.
It pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and it was fined £1m and ordered to pay full prosecution costs of £11,950.07 at a hearing at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Friday 18 July.
HSE inspector Jane Carroll said: “The company had failed to implement a safe system of work for its delivery and unloading activities, thereby exposing employees and others to the risk of being struck or caught by workplace vehicles.
“Nearly a quarter of all deaths involving workplace transport occur during reversing, most of which can be avoided by taking simple precautions.
“All work settings involving vehicles need to consider the risks arising from their use and implement adequate measures to ensure the safety of those involved in these activities.”
