Accident At Work Results In Worker Being Crushed To Death
Published on Friday, 11th February 2011
Accident at work at a power company in Cambridgeshire has been fined after a worker was crushed to death.
Bosses at a power station where a father of three was crushed to death by a straw bale have been ordered to pay £160,735 for admitting to breaching health and safety laws
Gary Darnell from Ely, in Cambridgeshire was working as a driver at EPR Ely Ltd’s site on the Elean Power Station in Sutton on 16th September 2008 when he suffered fatal injuries from a 700kg bale of straw which fell on to him. The 53-year-old was using an overhead gantry crane when the bale of straw fell from a lorry on top of him.
Energy Power Resources, (EPR) the company which owns the Elean Power Station in Sutton, pleaded guilty to two charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act at an earlier hearing at Cambridge Crown Court.
The work accident incident happened on September 16, 2008, and despite colleagues’ efforts to lift the bale off him, Mr Darnell was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation and prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found a number of failings regarding the movement of straw bales around the loading and storage area.
HSE Inspector Gavin Bull reported that: “Incidents like this are entirely preventable - it is tragic that Gary Darnell lost his life. “Companies need to make sure that they do not put drivers at risk from unsafe loading procedures. They should have systems of work in place keep drivers or other workers away from places that might be unsafe. If necessary they should use a banksman to assist the driver, or have other equipment such as effective CCTV to make loading operations safe.”
An inquest last year in to the accident at work recorded a verdict of accidental death but charges were made against the company after investigations by the Health and Safety Executive.
Mr Darnell, who lived in Barway, near Ely, left his wife of 34 years, Yvonne, three children, Lee, Jamie, and Nikki, and four grandchildren. Shortly after the tragedy, Yvonne described him as a “devoted family man”.
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