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05
Feb 2024
Harrogate construction firm fined £330,000 after worker killed by 16-ton excavator
A Harrogate construction company has been fined £330,000 after one of its workers was struck on the head and killed by a 16-ton excavator.
HACS Construction Ltd was fined following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive, which regulates workplace health and safety.
Dean Myers was killed undertaking groundwork in a partially excavated trench at a site at Ripon on January 13, 2021. The 56-year-old was struck on the head by the moving bucket of the excavator. He was certified dead at the scene.
According to the HSE, the groundworks team had been preparing the trench for new drainage to be laid.
Mr Myers had moved to the foot of an existing manhole adjacent to the trench when the excavator was reported to have met resistance whilst digging.
With nothing in place to prevent his entry into the danger zone of the excavator, Mr Myers exited the manhole via a makeshift opening to investigate. However, the excavator driver and other workers were not in a position to see that he had entered the danger zone and the excavator bucket swung into him with fatal consequences.
Inadequate supervision
The HSE has guidance on excavator industry safety. The precautions needed include considering clearance, visibility and the bucket attachment.
HSE’s investigation found HACS had failed to identify or assess the risk arising from using the existing manhole chamber as an improvised refuge. This meant the company failed to implement a system whereby workers were prevented from entering the dangerous working zone of the excavator while the machine was being operated by a driver with limited sight.
There was also inadequate supervision on site, alongside a failure to carry out monitoring visits which would have identified crucial safety failings.
HACS, of Station Yard, Ripley, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at Leeds Magistrates’ Court on January 24. The company was fined £330,500 and ordered to pay £9,141.80 costs.
This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Gemma Zakrzewski.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Ben Caines said:
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