Steel giant Corus has been fined £240,000 following a site accident in which a lorry driver was crushed to death.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted after three tonnes of steel plates fell on the driver in a site accident at the company’s site in Wombourne, Staffordshire.

In January 2007, 22-year-old Ross Beddow – who was employed by A Hingley Transport Ltd – was helping to load steel plates onto a lorry.

A Corus employee was operating a crane to lift a three-tonne pack of steel from a trailer. However, the load was not level and as it was lifted it fell on top of Mr Beddow and killed him.

An HSE investigation showed the system of work for loading steel was unsafe – not all the individual tasks involved had been evaluated and there was scope for misunderstanding between workers.

On Tuesday (13/04/10) at Staffordshire Crown Court, Corus (UK) Ltd – registered at 30 Millbank, London, SW1 – was fined £240,000 and was ordered to pay £112,500 costs, after pleading guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Dr Wai-Kin Liu said the accident was ‘a tragedy that could and should have been avoided’.

‘All the steps involved in an overall task should be analysed to create a safe system of work – and the consequences of something going wrong should always be taken into account,’ said Dr Wai-Kin Liu.

‘Anyone can make errors, no matter how well trained and motivated they are – but employers must develop a safe way of working that helps to prevent mistakes and reduces the severity of the consequences if they do occur.

‘If Corus had a safe system of working, then Mr Beddow would not have been killed simply doing his job,’ Dr Wai-Kin Lui added.

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