Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Plastics News
Subscribe
  • Newsletters
  • Login
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • News
    • Recycling
    • Sustainability
    • Bioplastics
    • Technology & Materials
    • Injection Moulding
    • Blow Moulding
    • Extrusion
    • Thermoforming
    • 3D printing
    • Technology
    • Materials
    • Machinery
  • Opinion
    • View Point
  • Events
    • Our Exhibitions
    • Plastics Industry Awards (PIA)
    • Ask the Expert
    • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
    • Plastics News Europe Live Archives
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Reuters Responsible Business Europe 2022
    • Plastics Recycling Show Europe
  • Prices & Resources
    • Polymer Prices
    • Data Reports
    • Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Media Pack
  • Subscribe
  • Digital magazine
    • Digital Magazine
  • Multimedia
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
June 07, 2012 07:00 AM

Recycler fined £200k after ‘avoidable' worker death

Anthony Clark
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print

    Recycling company Sita UK has been fined £200,000 after a 21-year-old employee died from head injuries at its site in Tipton.

    The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the firm after Mark Bate, of Tipton, West Midlands, was killed instantly when the arm of a JCB skid steer loader crushed his head on 12 June 2008.

    Wolverhampton Crown Court heard that Bate had been driving the vehicle at Sita's premises on the Coneygre Industrial Estate for three months without being properly trained.

    On the day of the incident, he had been working on his own to load scrap paper onto a conveyor. 

    After finishing the job, he stopped the loader and raised the safety bar from across his lap to isolate the machine, before leaning out of the front of the vehicle. However, the machine failed to isolate, the loader's arm dropped and crushed his head against the machine, killing him immediately.

    HSE's investigation found that Bate had not been formally trained, assessed or supervised in the use of the vehicle and a self-employed maintenance engineer had also used it over several months with no training.

    In addition, the court heard the loader had not been maintained in the eight months before the incident. It should have been serviced at least twice during this time.

    Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector David Evans said: "Mark Bate was a young man who should have had a long life ahead of him. Instead, he was killed in an entirely avoidable tragedy.

    "Despite knowing his lack of experience, SITA left him unsupervised to operate the loader. Furthermore, the vehicle was dangerous because it had not been properly maintained.

    "The company's risk assessment should have identified these issues but did not cover the use of this machine.

    "Transport at work is one of the biggest causes of deaths in the workplace, often through insufficient training or poorly maintained vehicles. There is no excuse for such basic failings, especially as free advice is available from HSE."

    Sita UK pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £200,000 and ordered to pay £77,402 costs. It was also ordered to reimburse Mark's mother £4,450 in funeral expenses.

    Newsletters
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Sustainable Plastics' news delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    SUBSCRIBE
    Sustainable Plastics Media Kit Cover

    Subscriptions to Sustainable Plastics, the leading Pan-European magazine for the circular plastics industry.

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter

    "In a changing world, Sustainable Plastics is a constant: a platform the plastics industry can rely on to deliver the news and knowhow impacting the industry going forward”

    Contact Us

    11 Ironmonger Lane, EC2V 8EY
    United Kingdom 
     

    Customer Service:
    1-313-446-0450

    [email protected]

     

    Resources
    • Advertise
    • Sitemap
    • Careers
    • Subscribe
    Affiliates
    • Plastics News
    • LSR World
    • Urethanes Technology
    • Tire Business
    • Rubber News
    • Automotive News
    • Automotive News Europe
    • Crain Publications
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Recycling
      • Sustainability
      • Bioplastics
      • Technology & Materials
        • Injection Moulding
        • Blow Moulding
        • Extrusion
        • Thermoforming
        • 3D printing
        • Technology
        • Materials
        • Machinery
    • Opinion
      • View Point
    • Events
      • Our Exhibitions
        • Plastics Recycling Show Europe
      • Plastics Industry Awards (PIA)
      • Ask the Expert
      • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
      • Plastics News Europe Live Archives
      • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Reuters Responsible Business Europe 2022
    • Prices & Resources
      • Polymer Prices
      • Data Reports
      • Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
    • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Media Pack
    • Subscribe
    • Digital magazine
      • Digital Magazine
    • Multimedia