A businessman has been jailed for serious fraud and safety offences following the death of a worker who was crushed and killed by a two-tonne metal sand-moulding box.
The court was told that Paul O’Boyle had been disqualified from acting as a company director for 12 years in 2006 but continued to act in that capacity at a number of foundry companies, including Aztech(BA) Ltd, which operated from premises in Hampshire.
In running Aztech, Mr O’Boyle was aided by Russell Lee, who agreed to be the registered director of the company. Lee was given a suspended sentence for similar offences.
The offences came to light following the death of Ian Middlemiss, 40, from Thornhill, Southampton, who was crushed beneath a heavy sandbox on 30 September 2010. Colleagues scrambled to free him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
HSE investigated the death and identified serious concerns with the systems of work in place at the time and with the lifting equipment. HSE became aware of the Companies Act offences and a joint investigation with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).
HSE found that the crane at the centre of the incident had not been checked and tested as the law requires, and there were inadequate provisions in place covering competency, supervision or training. The court heard the incident could have been prevented had the system of work been reviewed and properly assessed.
Inspectors also identified problems with lead exposure. Substances containing lead were used elsewhere at the site as part of a separate bronze moulding process, but the control and health surveillance measures were insufficient – meaning workers were being exposed to potentially harmful levels of lead without realising it.
The court heart that at the time of Mr Middlemiss’s death, the foundry was the subject of three improvement notices served by HSE following earlier visits in September 2009 and June 2010. A number of important safety improvements were required but few had been satisfactorily implemented, largely, claimed the management team, because of financial constraints.
HSE argued that the fatal incident could have been avoided had the necessary changes in the relevant enforcement notices taken place.
Aztech BA Ltd was sentenced for a breach of Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc act 1974, after a guilty plea was submitted on behalf of the insolvent firm by its administrators. The court imposed a fine of £100,000.
Paul O’Boyle, 56, from Andover, was jailed for a total of 26 months: 16 months for a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc act 1974; ten months for a breach of the Fraud Act 2006; and a total of eight months concurrent for four breaches of Section 13 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986. He was also disqualified from being a company director for the maximum of 15 years.
Russell Lee, 67, of Southampton, was given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years after admitting the same breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc act 1974 and a concurrent six months, also suspended, after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting O’Boyle in his disqualification.
Lee was also disqualified as a director, for seven years, ordered to pay £8,000 toward prosecution costs and given 150 hours’ community service.
In terms of other offences, the judge heard that between 2006 and 2011 Paul O’Boyle contravened two orders disqualifying him as a director by acting in that capacity in no fewer than four separate companies, including Aztech.
He was also responsible for the cross-firing of cheques, which were written from the bank account of one of the companies, which was no longer trading, to provide funds for Aztech.
BIS investigators established that Aztech drew almost £92,500 in this way, taking advantage of a short window after the cheques were presented but before they bounced.
The investigators also established that Russell Lee aided and abetted Paul O’Boyle as the registered director of Aztech, performing tasks such as writing blank cheques for Mr O’Boyle to run, but not fulfilling the responsibilities of being the director of the company, allowing O’Boyle to run the business.
In his sentencing comments, the Recorder of Salisbury, His Honour Judge A H Barnett, said Paul O’Boyle had behaved in a “disgraceful” way and had been culpable of “extremely shoddy business practice”.
After reading a statement for Mr Middlemiss’s father, the judge said the impact of the incident had been devastating: “It was harrowing, and underlines the personal tragedy that could have been avoided.”
After sentencing, Tim Galloway, HSE director of operations, southern division, said: “The safety standards at Aztech BA Ltd fell well short of those required, as Paul O’Boyle and Russell Lee were only too aware. They knew improvements were needed to protect workers like Ian Middlemiss and they had clear responsibilities as senior management to ensure the necessary changes were implemented.
“Sadly one of the many areas that was seemingly overlooked was the system of work surrounding the overhead crane. Had this been properly assessed then Ian’s tragic death could have been prevented.”
Approaches to managing the risks associated Musculoskeletal disorders
In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, we hear from Matt Birtles, Principal Ergonomics Consultant at HSE’s Science and Research Centre, about the different approaches to managing the risks associated with Musculoskeletal disorders.
Matt, an ergonomics and human factors expert, shares his thoughts on why MSDs are important, the various prevalent rates across the UK, what you can do within your own organisation and the Risk Management process surrounding MSD’s.
