Terex GB fined £150,000 after death of employee

Worker sustained fatal chest injuries as a result of being crushed between two mobile crushers

TEREX GB Ltd have been fined a total of £150,000 for failings which resulted in the death of an employee at their premises on Killyclogher Road, in Omagh, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland.

The company pleaded guilty to three charges after their employee, Steven McTeague, sustained fatal injuries as a result of being crushed between two mobile crushers that were being stored with others in a stockyard area.

Mr McTeague had been tasked with moving one of the machines, using a hand-held controller, from its parked position in the stockyard. During this operation the front of the machine veered towards a neighbouring parked machine, causing him to become trapped. Tragically, Mr McTeague sustained fatal crush injuries to his chest.

Terex GB Ltd, who were found to have breached Article 4(1) of the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978, Article 5(1) of the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 and Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (NI) 2000, were fined £50,000 on each count.

Speaking after the hearing, HSENI Inspector Kyle Carrick said: ‘Steven’s tragic death could easily have been avoided if his employer had properly considered the risks associated with the movement of mobile plant within the stockyard.

‘Risk assessment is a relatively straightforward process. It simply involves identifying the risks and putting measures in place to manage them. In this case careful consideration as to the layout of the stockyard would have gone some way to preventing this tragic incident from occurring.

‘Manoeuvring mobile plant using hand-held controllers poses significant risks if operators cannot safely maintain good separation distances during the movement of such equipment.’