Concrete firm fined for 'tragic and wholly preventable' death of employee
A concrete manufacturer has been fined a six-figure sum for the death of one of its staff members in a “tragic and wholly preventable” incident.
In 2023, production team leader Colin Thomas was killed while carrying out cleaning duties at the Co Londonderry main plant of Tobermore Concrete Products Ltd.
The firm has now been fined £160,000 at Londonderry Crown Court, after pleading guilty to a single health and safety offence.
While Mr Thomas was cleaning a section of the plant’s production line known as the “pit area”, a horizontal latch conveyor designed to transfer product across the plant shifted, trapping him between the still moving conveyor and the fixed structure of the plant.
An investigation found that power to the production line had not been properly locked out prior to cleaning. Although access gates to the production line were fitted with safety interlocks, it wasn’t clear to employees which particular sections of the plant were depowered as a result of opening each gate.
That part of the production didn’t have additional safety features, such as light sensors to halt the movement of equipment, though they were found elsewhere in the facility.
The investigation also found failings around employee supervision, which led to unsafe practices not adequately managed by the company.
Speaking after the hearing, Inspector Kiara Blackburn from the Health and Safety Executive’s major investigation team said: “This incident was tragic and wholly preventable.
“Employers must ensure that access to dangerous moving parts of equipment is prevented, and that suitable and sufficient risk assessments and isolation and lockout procedures are in place, and followed where employees are required to carry out cleaning and maintenance.”