Quarry operator fined after ADT driver death

D Geddes (Contractors) Ltd fined £200,000 for safety failings after dumptruck fall at Hatton Mill Quarry

AN Arbroath quarry operator has been fined for serious safety failings after an articulated dumptruck (ADT) driver died when his vehicle reversed over a stop block and fell to the quarry floor below.

Seventy-six-year-old Joseph Troup had worked for D Geddes (Contractors) Ltd at their Hatton Mill Quarry in Kinnell, Froickheim, for 18 years when the incident occurred on 26 July 2012.

Forfar Sheriff Court heard that Mr Troup had loaded material from the extraction face on to his 35-tonne ADT and transported it to an area by the processing plant’s input hopper.

In order to tip, the truck body is raised by pulling back the tipping lever, which is beside the gear lever in the driver’s cab, while revving the vehicle’s engine.

At the time of the incident, the assistant quarry manager heard the revving of Mr Troup’s truck, but as he looked up he saw the vehicle’s rear wheels on the metal bars which cover the top of the input hopper and realized it was reversing back over the hopper and the truck body was not raised at all.

As it reversed, the rear of the truck rolled beyond the end of the metal bars and fell backwards on to the quarry floor below. Mr Troup, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was thrown from his seat as the vehicle fell backwards and died instantly as a result of head injuries.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was unable to identify the exact reason for the vehicle reversing. Mr Troup may have inadvertently pulled the gear lever into the reverse position when attempting to pull the tipping lever, since the two levers are side by side.

The vehicle was able to move because the parking brake had not been applied.

The HSE found that the stop block above the input hopper at the time was ineffective in stopping the reversing dumptruck due to a combination of insufficient height and the ramping of sand and gravel used in the construction of the stop block.

The metal stop block and the compacted material on top measured 41cm. A build-up of tipped material in front of the block had effectively allowed it to act as a ramp which a large wheeled vehicle was capable of driving over.

During the investigation, the built-up material was removed and the ground in front of the stop block was dug out to reveal its full height of 63cm, which would have prevented the dumper truck from accidentally being reversed.

D Geddes (Contractors) Ltd were fined £200,000 after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 6 of The Quarries Regulations (as amended) 1999.

Following the case, HSE Inspector Richard Noble said: ‘The task of reversing a heavy vehicle to the stop block of an input hopper at a processing plant is an inherently dangerous one. D Geddes (Contractors) Ltd should have identified the risk of the vehicle reversing over the input hopper stop block and the driver being injured or killed, and ensured measures were in place to prevent this from happening.

‘There is well-established guidance available on safe tipping at quarries, which, if followed, would have prevented this tragic incident.’