Company Fined £130,000 For Safety Failings

A Preston-based company has been fined £130,000 and ordered to pay costs of £52,790 after a 45-year-old painter was killed in an accident.

EMC Contracts - which has been put into voluntary liquidation - was found guilty of two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 during a hearing at Preston Crown Court.

Father-of-one Carl Green died after being struck by a reversing van outside the Odeon Cinema in Ashton-on-Ribble on July 27th 2010. He was working on a project to add a new coffee shop to the complex.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that another worker had been unloading construction materials from his van in the paved area directly outside the building.

As the driver reversed, he failed to notice Mr Green walking behind.

EMC Contracts had written a method statement for the work, which identified the movement of transport outside the cinema as a potential hazard.

However, the HSE confirmed the company failed to adopt clear measures for managing this risk.

Emma Prescott - the mother of Mr Green's daughter Morgan - said the accident had turned both of their lives upside down.

Following the hearing, HSE inspector Susan Ritchie said EMC Contracts had put its workers and members of the public in danger.
 
"The work at the cinema was carried out during the school holidays - at a time when children and their parents would have been watching the summer blockbusters," she commented.

"There were numerous measures the company could have implemented to either eliminate or reduce the risk of collision, such as prohibiting vehicles from reversing or avoiding using its vehicles outside the cinema entrance altogether."

According to HSE statistics, more than half of the fatal workplace injuries reported in 2012-13 could be attributed to three main causes.

These were transport accidents, falls from height and contact with moving machinery.

Expert Opinion

This is a tragic work accident and one which could have been prevented had appropriate systems been adopted <br/> <br/>“Like many of the cases we are involved in, this incident highlights the risks which can emerge not only in the workplace but also in public places and why it is so important for employers to ensure they are fully compliant with safety regulations both for the benefit of their workers and the general public. <br/> <br/>“Time and again we see the same mistakes made in relation to health and safety, and it is vital that if any breach of these guidelines is found that action is immediately taken by the company involved to ensure that tragic accidents, such as this, are avoided.” <br/>