Engineering firm sentenced following Preston worker's death

A major engineering firm has been ordered to pay more than £200,000 in fines and costs for safety failings following the death of an electrician who was crushed by an overhead crane at a Preston factory.

Liam O’Neill had been trying to replace a control cable when the incident happened at Assystem UK Ltd in Bamber Bridge on 12 March 2011. The 51-year-old, from Didsbury, Greater Manchester, died in hospital seven days later.

The company, which is part of the international Assystem group, was today (26 November) prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found Mr O’Neill had been able to work on a platform in the path of the overhead crane without the power to the crane first being switched off.

Preston Crown Court heard that the platform, which was around four metres above the ground, had been installed for a specific project in September 2000. End stops had previously been fitted to the rails used by the overhead crane that stopped the crane reaching the platform, but these had later been removed.

The platform had remained at the factory but there was no barrier at the bottom of the access ladder to prevent workers climbing up it while the crane was in use.

On the day of the incident, Mr O’Neill had been trying to replace a cable, which hangs down from the crane to a handheld control, after it had developed an intermittent fault.

The crane had been moved over the platform so Mr O’Neill could reach the top of the cable where it connects to a junction box on the crane. As he climbed onto the platform, the crane moved and he was crushed between the guard rails around the top of the ladder and the crane itself.

The HSE investigation found the crane cleared the top of the guard rails around the ladder and platform by just 8.5cm. Despite this, the company had not identified the risk of workers being crushed by the crane if they used the platform so no action had been taken to stop this from happening.

Assystem UK Ltd, of Club Street in Bamber Bridge, was fined £160,000 and ordered to pay £52,500 in prosecution costs after pleading guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Stuart Kitchingman said: “Liam tragically lost his life because his employer didn’t think about the potential consequences of having a working platform in the path of an overhead crane.

“Assystem should never have allowed the end stops to be removed from the crane’s rails when it was still possible for workers to climb up the ladder onto the platform.

“It would have been simple to put a system in place to make sure power to the crane was switched off before anyone climbed onto the platform, or to put up a barrier to prevent access to the platform.”

Mr O’Neill’s widow, Deborah, added: “My husband and I were married in 1984. We had our only child, Sophie, in 1989 and were a small but very happy family. When Liam had the accident at Assystem our whole world was blown apart.

“When he died a week later, Sophie and I were completely devastated. Sophie, at the young age of 21, had lost her father with whom she had a close and loving relationship. I had lost the man that I met at the age of 19 and was planning to spend the rest of my life with.

“Our lives, and those of the wider family, have been completely changed. We have had to cope with emotional trauma, grief and financial difficulties, and our lives will never be the same.

“Our future is a much sadder one now that we cannot fulfil our plans, hopes and dreams with him. He was a great father to Sophie and a loving and supportive husband to me.

“We hope accidents like this can be prevented in the future so that other families don’t have to suffer as we have.”

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →