Tragedy as 'fantastic father and husband' from Sheffield crushed in ‘entirely avoidable’ accident
A Sheffield engineer died after a being crushed when a piece of industrial equipment tragically fell on him as he worked on a site in London.
Dad of three Russell Hartley, from Sheffield, was working on the machine, a Trisomat screen used to separate materials like rubble or biomass by shaking them, when it toppled over.
Two companies, including a business in Barnsley, have now been fined over the tragedy, following a Health and Safety Executive investigation.
The investigation found the incident was ‘entirely avoidable’ and Russell Hartley would still be alive had the work been planned, managed and monitored to a sufficient standard.
Mr Hartley, was a self-employed engineer from Sheffield who had been hired by Premier Engineering Projects Ltd to replace machinery at a materials recycling facility on Twelvetrees Crescent, Bow, London.
The 48-year-old led a group of four engineers tasked with replacing the Trisomat screen, known colloquially as a ‘flip-flop’, on February 24, 2020, when the incident occurred.
The flip-flop, a machine that sorts different sizes of waste, was fixed within a metal structure at height in a bay at the site. The crane, supplied by M&M Mobile Crane Hire Ltd, was first used to lower the flip-flop from its position at the site.
Mr Hartley, who also had three grandchildren, then took over using a telehandler - a hydraulic lifting machine on wheels.. With the flip-flop resting on the telehandler’s forks, the machine began to go further down the bay.
The flip-flop became jammed in the bay when Mr Hartley attempted to reverse the telehandler.
The crane was then used again to lift the flip-flop off the telehandler, which unknown to the workers, had its forks slightly raised above ground level.
As the crane moved towards the telehandler, the flip-flop toppled forwards off the forks and crushed Mr Hartley. Another worker, who was standing on the flip-flop at the time, was thrown off the machine but escaped serious injury.
The HSE investigation found that two contractors, Premier Engineering Projects Ltd, of Industry Road, Carlton, Barnsley, and M&M Mobile Crane Hire Ltd, of David Road, Colnbrook, Slough, failed to ensure the safety of those involved in carrying out the replacement of the Trisomat screen.
They found 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. Mr Hartley was working with nine other engineers, also hired by Premier Engineering Projects, as well as three workers from M&M Mobile Crane Hire Ltd at the site.
Russell was everything to us
Mr Hartley’s wife, Debbie, said in her victim personal statement: “Russell was everything to us. He was funny and one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. Nothing was ever too much. If it needed doing, he got it done. He was a fantastic father and husband. He worshipped his grandkids and all his family.
“I feel like sometimes I am just waiting for him to come home. I can’t accept that he has gone as I couldn’t say goodbye. Nothing prepared me for that moment. I thought he would be here and live on forever.
“All he ever wanted was to keep his family happy and looked after and I will try to keep that dream alive.”
Premier Engineering Projects Ltd, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £28,000 and ordered to pay £9,277.48 in costs at the Old Bailey on August 1, 2024.
M&M Mobile Crane Hire Ltd, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £48,000 and ordered to pay £9,500 in costs at the Old Bailey on August 1, 2024.
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.”