The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted a marble and granite manufacturing company after a man was killed by falling stone slabs.

The company – Marble City Ltd (MCL) – and company directors Gavin and Jamie Waldron faced charges of breaching the Health and Safety Act, after an incident in March 2008 outside the company’s site at Wandsworth in southwest London, when the slabs were being unloaded from a truck.

The company’s employees Ronald Douglas and Franco Moscelli were helping to unload the truck. The driver Gelsomino Pacifico – an Italian national – had been instructed to park his truck and trailer nearer the yard.

However, this meant the vehicle was parked on a slope on the road, causing the stone slabs on the trailer to lean towards the kerb.

Mr Pacifico, Mr Moscelli and Mr Douglas climbed into the trailer to begin unloading the slabs. As they did this, six tonnes of stone slabs that had not been restrained toppled and fell, crushing Mr Douglas. He died from his injuries in hospital a week later.

Mr Moscelli and Mr Pacifico had tried to catch the slabs, but became trapped themselves. Mr Moscelli sustained injuries to his right arm that have resulted in parasthesia – irritation of the nerves. Mr Pacifico sustained bruising to his right arm.

Gavin Waldron had been supervising the unloading operation. However, the HSE investigation found that MCL had operated an unsafe system of work for unloading deliveries at the site for several years – including not insisting on deliveries being unloaded on flat, level ground and ensuring that the slabs were restrained at all times. 

The investigation also found that Gavin Waldron had failed to establish Mr Pacifico’s competence – or make any effort to brief him on the MCL unloading operation. It was company policy only to let competent drivers assist with unloading, but Mr Pacifico was allowed to go ahead because he had claimed to have had ‘years of experience’.

On Monday (19/04/10) at Southwark Crown Court, Marble City Ltd of Smugglers Way in Wandsworth pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £47,564.

Directors Gavin and Jamie Waldron both pleaded guilty to two breaches of Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. They were each fined £10,000.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Andrew Verrall-Withers said that too many employers had ‘good intentions’ – but failed to protect employees ‘as well as they think they are’.

‘Employers need to check how well they are protecting their employees – and not find out they are failing when tragically it is too late and someone is hurt and killed,’ said Mr Verrall-Withers.

‘The defendant’s system of work for unloading slabs of stone was dangerous – but it would have been fairly easy to make it much safer,’ he added.

‘It is vital that work like this is planned ahead – and people do not just react to something when it starts to go wrong.’

© 5r1 Limited 2010