The co-owner of a farm has admitted failing to ensure the safe maintenance of a tractor, which was involved in a fatal incident.
Thomas Phizacklea, 34, was working at Aurora Park Farm in Scales, near Ulverston, when the incident took place on 2 July 2009. There were no witnesses to the incident and his body was discovered underneath a tractor at the site.
The HSE investigated the incident and found the 27-year-old tractor was in a poor condition. There had been problems starting it in the past and the handbrake didn’t work. It’s thought Mr Phizacklea left the tractor running in neutral without the handbrake on and then got out of the cab to walk around the vehicle. Most likely, the tractor then rolled forwards and trapped him between the front offside wheel and a mound of earth.
The HSE issued a Prohibition Notice to Stuart Webster, who owned the farm with his ex-wife. The notice required the tractor and its mixer-wagon attachment to be taken out of service until they were made safe.
HSE inspector Peter Hamer said: “Mr Phizacklea’s death could and should have been prevented. The danger of an incident was apparent, given the previous problems with the tractor that Stuart Webster failed to remedy.
“It should have been standard practice to apply the handbrake and switch off the engine before getting out of vehicles at the farm. However, it wasn’t possible for Mr Phizacklea to do this, as the handbrake on the tractor wasn’t working and it struggled to restart.
“Stuart Webster had a legal duty to ensure work could be carried out safely on his farm. He should have either kept up with the maintenance of the tractor, or taken it out of use altogether.”
Stuart Webster appeared at Barrow Crown Court on 11 March and pleaded guilty to breaching reg.5(1) of PUWER 1998, for failing to keep the tractor in a safe condition. He was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £29,184 in costs.
In mitigation, Webster said he had no previous convictions and had cooperated with the investigation. The tractor has not been used since the incident and he has carried out thorough inspections on all other machinery at the farm.
After the hearing, Tom’s widow Laura Phizacklea told the North West Evening Mail that she was happy with the sentence. She said: “If it can stop anything else like this happening again that would be great.”
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I along with many others hopefully, are really tired of reading comments “In mitigation, we have no previous convictions and we co-operated fully etc etc” If as much effort went into the care & consideration of others, then this would not have been said. Rogue employers should be made to compensate families of those they have seriously injured or killed by their failings in maintaining equipment and shoddy systems of work. Maybe then they can get a good night’s sleep.
If something is not safe and “as it should be” then don’t use it. It is also down to those working to protect both themselves, their families and the “management from themselves? Incidents obviously happen but people should try not aid and abet.