HSE Fines Company Over Fatality

A leading workplace injury expert at Irwin Mitchell has called for lessons to be learnt after a former soldier was killed in an accident involving an industrial mixing machine.

Father-of-one Paul Palmer of Rawcliffe was killed in 2005 when a work colleague switched on the mixer while he was cleaning the inside of it. An investigation revealed that both of the safety switches on the machine failed, while the guard on the mixer was also deemed inadequate.

The Health and Safety Executive has fined Bury firm Building Chemical Research and director Stuart Reich in relation to the incident.

Commenting on the case, Irwin Mitchell’s David Urpeth said: “This awful fatal work accident is a prime example of why importance should be placed on the issue of health and safety in the workplace.”

“The tragedy is that this accident at work which claimed the life of Mr Palmer could have been avoided, but the firm failed to ensure that adequate safety systems were in place. Sadly, all too often, I have to provide help to people affected by fatal accidents in circumstances that could and should have been avoided.”

“I hope that lessons are learnt that from this terrible incident and work is done to ensure no one suffers in this manner ever again.”