Firms fined as builder killed
A BUILDER was killed by an accident on a Doncaster construction site on the day he returned to work after a previous injury, a court heard.
Now the two firms involved in the death of Michael Broughton - killed while concrete was being poured at Redhouse Business Park, near Adwick-le-Street, more than five years ago - have been fined a total of 80,000.
Mr Broughton had just started his first day back at his job after four months off having been hurt at work on another occasion, Doncaster Crown Court was told.
He suffered a fatal head injury when a hose discharging concrete from a pumping machine developed a blockage and suddenly whipped across to where he was standing.
His family, from north-east Lincolnshire, have already received a compensation payment from his employers, Universal Construction Services Ltd, based near Market Rasen.
The company pleaded guilty to failing in its duty of case to an employee and Pochin Plant Ltd, a nationwide provider of truck-mounted concrete pumps, also admitted a health and safety offence. Each was fined 40,000, Pochin was ordered to pay a further 45,000 in prosecution costs, and UCS must pay 31,600 in costs.
UCS was involved in the building of office blocks at the Redhouse site in December 2003 and concrete floors were being laid by a gang of workers including Mr Broughton.
Nigel Lawrence, prosecuting for the HSE, said the gang returned from a meal break but when the pump was restarted there was a loud noise, caused by a blockage in the hose, which then "swung violently" knocking one man off his feet. The others then saw Mr Broughton lying next to a steel column.
"Nobody saw what had happened to Mr Broughton at the time of the movement of the hose, only the aftermath when he was lying on the ground," Mr Lawrence told the court.
"It cannot be said whether Mr Broughton's fatal injuries were caused by the movement of the hose or by his fall onto the steelwork but it is clear that either scenario was ultimately attributable to the violent movement of the hose."
The prosecution said both companies should have been aware of the danger because there had been previous incidents of blockages in the hose while pouring concrete.
David Eccles, defending UCS, expressed the company's sympathy to Mr Broughton's partner and family and said they had taken steps to learn from the mistake.
"It is now clear that standing close to the hose poses a significant danger," he said. "It had never happened before, it was a very unlikely possibility. Nobody had ever seen anything like this before."
The judge, Recorder Andrew Campbell QC, said Mr Broughton's parents had suffered stress-related illnesses because of the length of time before the case came to court but they did not seek punishment, only expressing the hope no-one else suffered the same.
"They can draw comfort that both defendants have noted the danger and put in place revised and enhanced safety procedures which will go a long way to avoiding such accidents in future," he said.
The judge said the fines would have been higher if both defendants did not already have a culture of safety and because they were operating in a far from healthy economic climate.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Rob Cooper said: "This case highlights the need to fully consider all the risks involved when planning work and putting in place measures to control the risk.
"The precautions that should have been adopted were as simple as to ensure that no-one stood close to the end of the flexible delivery hose until concrete was flowing smoothly from it - something which would have not added any significant cost or time to the work."
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