UK: Cargill pays out over lorry driver death

By Jane Byrne

- Last updated on GMT

UK: Cargill pays out over lorry driver death

Related tags Occupational safety and health

Cargill UK has been fined £600,000 ($918,912) following the death of a lorry driver.

The UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out an investigation into the fatal incident.

That agency said Malcolm Harrison was working at the Cargill terminal at Seaforth Dock in Liverpool on 6 September 2012 when a stockpile of soy meal collapsed on him. The 64-year-old subsequently died of his injuries in hospital.

Cargill was charged with breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974, which states: “It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.”

Cargill was also ordered to pay costs at Liverpool Crown Court.

The agribusiness company told the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health IOSH’s news outlet:

“Following the tragic death of Malcolm Harrison at our Seaforth facility in Liverpool in 2012, we have been working together with the HSE and others in the industry to minimize the risk of accidents such as this happening in the future.

As a result we have now implemented new driver safety signage, rules and procedures on our sites.

While we had steps in place to actively manage drivers in our stores, we believe that the changes we have made since 2012 show that there was more we could have done. Safety remains our top priority for the company.”

There was a similar incident involving a feed company located in Scotland in August last year.

East Coast Viners Animal Nutrition had to pay out ​£240,000 after a lorry driver was crushed to death from a two-ton, fully loaded grain bin falling onto him from a forklift truck.

David Leslie worked for a feed services firm and was picking up a load from East Coast Viners’ site in Drumlithie, Stonehaven, when the incident happened in March 2013.

Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that the accident could have been prevented had the company made sure its employees and visiting drivers were adequately protected during loading operations.

East Coast Viners, based in Aberdeenshire, pleaded guilty. It was the second time in the space of four years that it has been prosecuted for contravening health and safety regulations.

In April 2011, the firm was fined £4,000 for a breach of Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 following an incident in which a mill operative suffered head injuries when he fell from an excavator bucket. 

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