A lorry driver was crushed and killed by heavy graphite parts after being allowed to unload his vehicle in a dangerous manner. The driver spoke no English and the company had no set policy for dealing with drivers who did not speak English, it was heard in court.
Ahmet Yakar, 52, was struck by parts weighing up to a quarter-of-a-tonne each in the fatal incident at Morganite Electrical Carbon Ltd at Upper Forest Way, Swansea, on 19 July 2011.
The company was prosecuted on 17 January by the HSE, for failing to ensure an unloading operation was properly and safely managed.
Swansea Crown Court was told that Mr Yakar, a Turkish national, was reluctant to open up the sides of his curtain-sided lorry as he arrived to make a delivery at Morganite.
Instead, he was supplied with a hand operated pallet truck to move the boxes to the back of the lorry, where they were transferred to a forklift truck.
During the operation, the boxes — at the time stacked four high — became unstable and the top box toppled and knocked him off the lorry. The next box toppled onto him as he lay on the floor. Despite efforts to free and revive him, he died at the scene.
HSE’s investigation found that Morganite did not have safe working procedures for receiving and unloading delivery vehicles and did not carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for unloading at the site.
Morganite Electrical Carbon Ltd, of Upper Forest Way, Swansea, was fined a total of £120,000 and ordered to pay a further £16,021 in costs after pleading guilty to a single breach of section 3(1) of the HSWA 1974 and regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Steve Lewis, said: “This tragic incident could have been avoided had Morganite carried out a proper risk assessment of the unloading procedure and insisted Mr Yakar open the curtain sides to the truck instead of unloading from the rear of the vehicle.
“The company failed to provide their employees with suitable instructions and safe systems of work for accepting lorry deliveries to site. They should have taken responsibility for the driver’s safety and the delivery and unloading operation.
“Mr Yakar and his family in Turkey have paid the ultimate price for Morganite’s carelessness in this regard.”
In a statement, Morganite said: “We deeply regret the tragic death of Ahmet Yakar and our heartfelt condolences go to his family, friends and colleagues. Following the incident in 2011, and as specifically recognised by the Court, we acted promptly and responsibly to implement additional safety measures to protect all staff and visitors to our sites.”
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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.
one for noting thats pertinant to us and which we can advise hse team