A driver was run over and killed by his own lorry after he attempted to stop it running away.
Derby Crown Court heard that on 11 October 2010, Gary Walters, 51, was working for contract haulier Larkins Logistics, collecting a trailer loaded with structural concrete products from Bison Manufacturing’s factory in Swadlincote, Derbyshire.
As he was coupling the cab of his lorry to the trailer, the vehicle started to roll off. He had not applied the brake in his cab, while drivers working for Bison had also failed to apply the brake to the trailer.
Father-of-three Mr Walters, from Crowmarsh, Oxfordshire, is believed to have gone round the front of the vehicle, possibly in an attempt to get into the cab and apply the brakes, but was struck by the cab and run over. He died of multiple injuries.
Investigating HSE inspector Judith McNulty-Green told SHP that this had not been an isolated incident. “Unfortunately there is a number of fatalities and serious injuries to drivers every year in these same circumstances, where drivers do not put the tractor-unit brakes on and vehicles roll away.”
An HSE investigation revealed that drivers working for Bison did not routinely apply the trailer brakes to ensure safe parking of the units. A Police examination of ten other trailers at the site revealed that none had the brakes applied, and no other manual system of restraint, such as chocks or hooks, was in place.
The court heard that there had been a number of other instances of lorries rolling away and Larkins’ drivers had not been properly trained to assess the use of trailer brakes in the yard.
Although both companies had identified the risk to workers, they failed to implement appropriate control measures. Their method of working ignored published safety guidance, which meant that drivers and other employees were all put at risk.
Highlighting the preventative measures that could have been taken, the inspector said: “There could have been engineering controls such as physical restraints to stop vehicles moving, sleeping policemen to stop them rolling away, huge hooks fitted to the back of trailers to stop them moving, as well as proper instruction, training, supervision and monitoring of drivers to put trailer and tractor brakes on when they are stationary.”
Larkins offered no mitigation since it was not represented in court. Bisons said it had taken steps since the incident to ensure it could not happen again, such as giving detailed instructions to the drivers of the shunters — who move the trailers around and park them, waiting for the lorry drivers to arrive — to engage the trailers’ brakes. The company is now conducting random daily checks to ensure that drivers are following this procedure.
On 24 April, the two companies were ordered to pay a total of £794,658 in fines and costs.
Gloucester-based Larkins Logistics, which had entered no plea, did not attend court and was found guilty of breaching s2(1) and 3(1) of the HSWA 1974 in its absence. It was fined £350,000 for the s2(1) offence for putting Mr Walters at risk, and £100,000 for the s3(1) offence of putting non-employees, including those employed by Bison and other contractors on the site, at risk. The firm was also ordered to pay full costs of £23,317.
Bison Manufacturing pleaded guilty to the same charges and was fined £233,000 for the s2(1) offence for putting its own employees at risk, and £67,000 for the s3(1) offence for putting other drivers or contractors at risk on its site. It was told to pay full costs of £21,341.
The inspector added: “Bison Manufacturing failed to implement a safe system of work for the storage of trailers with the brakes applied. They and Larkins Logistics also failed to implement and monitor working procedures for coupling and uncoupling trailers in the yard, and they failed to do it despite previous incidents.
“Had they done so, they would have realised trailer brakes were routinely not being applied, taken appropriate action, and a man would not have lost his life so needlessly.”
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The company had recognised the risk and not put any measures in place to minimise it. They could at least have trained their drivers to get out of the way if a truck starts to roll.
If the trailer is not connected to a tractor the airbrakes are automatically applied, this is why they start to roll when connected to a truck, the manual trailer brake is often ignored.
Companies have always been liable for the actions of their employees while at work.
How can the company employing the driver be at fault when it was the driver himself was the one who failed to apply the brake on the cab? .. This is rediculous that this company is at fault for a failure on behalf of a professional driver!
Yes the other company was at fault as they had not applied brakes to the trailor!
But what this now sets is that any company employing drivers are responsible for the driver not being able to use common sense! Will this include any driving failures?
Good Morning Mr SPM70, FYI only, all UK Employers have been held to be ‘Vicariously Liable’ for the acts or omissions of Employees, as long as the act or omission was undertaken in the Course of his/her Employment’. This Judgment was first decided in 1865 (yes 1865) and confirmed yet again by the Court of Appeal in London during 1951. So while I fully accept your point about ‘Common Sense’ the problem with relying on that abstract concept is that its not so Common and that is the problem we all face on the Road. I trust your would agree… Read more »