Two companies have been fined after a father-of-three was crushed to death by a machine at a materials recycling facility in London.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the incident was “entirely avoidable” and Russell Hartley, 48, would still be alive had this work been planned, managed and monitored to a sufficient standard.
Both Premier Engineering Projects Ltd and M&M Mobile Crane Hire Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Premier Engineering Projects was fined £28,000 and ordered to pay £9,277.48 in costs, while M&M Mobile Crane Hire was fined £48,000 and ordered to pay £9,500 in costs, at the Old Bailey on 1 August 2024.
Hartley was a self-employed engineer from Sheffield who had been hired by Premier Engineering Projects Ltd to replace machinery at the materials recycling facility (MRF) on Twelvetrees Crescent, Bow, London.
The 48-year-old led a group of four engineers tasked with replacing a Trisomat screen on 24 February 2020 when the incident occurred.
The Trisomat screen is a machine that sorts different sizes of waste and was fixed within a metal structure at height in a bay at the site.
While Hartley used a telehandler with the Trisomat screen resting on its forks, the machine became jammed in the bay when he attempted to reverse the telehandler.
A crane, supplied by M&M Mobile Crane Hire Ltd, was used to lift the machine off the telehandler, which unknown to the workers, had its forks slightly raised above ground level.
As the crane moved towards the telehandler, the Trisomat screen toppled forwards off the forks and crushed Hartley. Another worker, who was standing on the Trisomat screen at the time, was thrown off the machine but escaped serious injury.
The HSE investigation found that Premier Engineering Projects Ltd and M&M Mobile Crane Hire Ltd failed to ensure the safety of those involved in carrying out the replacement of the Trisomat screen.
The work being undertaken was not properly planned, supervised or carried out safely, and the assessment of the risks arising from the work was both unsuitable and insufficient, the HSE said.
Commenting on the case, HSE inspector Mark Slater, who investigated this incident alongside HSE inspector David Beaton, said: “Had this work been planned, managed and monitored to a sufficient standard, this incident was entirely avoidable and Mr Hartley’s family would still have him in their lives.
“Risks arising from the lifting and moving of equipment of this size and nature are entirely foreseeable, and work of this nature should be afforded the utmost respect and care.”
