Veolia Environmental Services Sheffield has been fined £750,000 following the death of a worker who was crushed beneath the tailgate of one of its refuse collection vehicles.

Richard Calsen, 25, suffered crush injuries and went into a cardiac arrest at the site of his employer, welding firm John Fowler and Son in Chorley, Lancashire, when a safety device on the Veolia vehicle he was working on failed.

Preston Crown Court heard last week how Calsen had gone into work on 17 May 2014 despite still being on annual leave as a favour to John Fowler and Son. Calsen was welding plates onto the tailgate of the vehicle alongside William Fowler, the son of the business owner.

Fowler went to the cab to raise the tailgate, but the court heard that he turned the control the wrong way and the tailgate started to close.

Hydraulic props, which were supposed to prevent the tailgate from closing fully, had not been properly secured, and a safety-limiting switch that makes sure a one-metre gap is left beneath the tailgate, was stuck in an activated position, allowing it to close fully.

Calsen was crushed by the tailgate and died at the scene.

Four more defective switches in fleet

An investigation carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that no risk assessment had been carried out into the work that Calsen was doing on the vehicle, and that Veolia Environmental Services Sheffield Ltd, which has a long-term contract to collect waste and recycling in Sheffield, had failed to carry out routine inspections on its refuse collection vehicles.

The investigation found that four other vehicles in the Veolia Sheffield fleet had defective safety-limiting switches.

John Fowler and Son pleaded guilty to an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act (HASAW) 1974, admitting that the company failed to protect its employees from risk of death or danger by providing adequate risk assessment.

Following the incident, the company produced a method statement outlining a number of safety measures that were to be implemented to limit the risks to employees. The prosecution said these steps should have been taken earlier and the company was fined £65,000.

Veolia ES Sheffield Ltd, meanwhile, admitted a charge of violating Section 3 of the HASAW Act, which requires employers to ensure the safety of persons not in the company’s employment. The court said that Veolia had breached this measure by failing to carry out adequate inspections to the vehicles, including safety switches.

The company was fined £750,000 and made to pay a further £11,981 in costs.

Honorary Recorder of Preston, Judge Mark Brown, said: “Mr Calsen had no chance of escape and tragically he was crushed. He was killed instantly.

“This was in my view a fatal accident which should never have happened. There is no doubt his death at a relatively young age has had a devastating effect on his family.”

Following the trial, a Veolia spokesperson said: “We would like to express our deepest sympathies to Richard Calsen’s family and friends. As a company we treat health and safety as the highest priority. A review of all relevant safety procedures was carried out after this incident and we have taken the necessary steps to ensure the highest standards are met for all our vehicle and maintenance operations.”

More information about health and safety in the waste industry is available in Resource’s previous article.