GCS Johnson has been fined £140,000 after an employee was killed while unloading a trailer. Anthony Clark was helping move a large piece of machinery from one trailer to another at the GCS Johnson depot at Barton Quarry industrial estate in Richmond on August 17, 2018. A team of workers were moving the piece of machinery, that suddenly fell from the bed of the vehicle trailer and hit Clark killing him instantly.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that when the workers were transferring the load for shipment, the machinery was in two parts and the smaller section fell free during the lifting operation. This caused the part of machinery to strike Anthony resulting in immediate fatal injuries.
GCS Johnson of Barton Park, Barton, Richmond, North Yorkshire pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at Leeds Magistrates’ Court on May 3.
The company was fined £140,000 and ordered to pay £18,355.07 in costs.
According to HSE inspector Julian Franklin, “If the load had been examined carefully prior to the lift being carried out, the team would have identified that it was in two pieces. As it was, the lifting method used was not suitable for a load of that size and shape, and a lifting plan should have been prepared. This terrible incident could so easily have been avoided by simply implementing the correct control measures and safe working practices.”
