A construction company in Wales has been prosecuted following the death of a 23-year-old who suffered fatal injuries when his head became trapped in a digger machine he was driving without having been trained.

In February 2005, Lance Taylor from Thornbury in Bristol was working for the Bridgend-based company Macob Administration Limited. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Mr Taylor was allowed to operate a mini digger on site without being qualified to do so.

As he leaned out of the cab window, Mr Taylor accidentally hit a lever that raised the digging arm of the vehicle. He sustained crush injuries to his head – which had become trapped between the cab and the arm – and was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

On Friday (15/01/2010) at Gloucester Crown Court, Macob Administration Limited pleaded guilty to breaches under Regulation 9(1) and 28(a) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The company was fined £40,000 for each of the charges – a total of £80,000 – with costs of £29,798.14

After the hearing, HSE inspector Martin Lee said that it was ‘imperative’ that on construction sites using plant and machinery, there were systems in place to control who had access to vehicles on site.

‘This terrible incident highlights the extremely serious risks posed by equipment and vehicles on sites if the workers using them don’t have adequate training or are not versed in safe working procedures,’ said Mr Lee.

‘Mr Taylor and other site workers were not all properly trained to use the equipment they were handling and – just as seriously – vehicle keys were routinely left in the machines. As a result, the vehicles were accessible to anyone on site, regardless of their qualifications.’

Mr Lee added that managers on construction sites should know which workers on the site were qualified to operate machinery, as well as ensuring that their control systems were ‘working effectively’.

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