Crown Court date over shipyard death (From Wirral Globe)

Crown Court date over shipyard death

1:51pm Friday 3rd February 2012 in News

A WIRRAL shipbuilding company 'fell well below' expected safety standards when a worker died there, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Cammell Laird has pleaded guilty to breaking health and safety rules following the death of welder Robert Dunroe.

The 62-year-old, from New Ferry, was driving a forklift truck at the site on August 18 2010 when he was crushed against a lifting beam used on a crane.

He suffered from multiple injuries and died four days later in hospital.

Following an investigation into the incident, the HSE charged the firm with breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The Campbelltown Road-based company appeared at Wirral Magistrates Court today and pleaded guilty to the charge.

Mr Dunroe’s son, Ian, told an inquest at Wallasey Town Hall last year that his father had never mentioned going on a training course to use a forklift truck.

Speaking on behalf of the HSE, Craig Morris said: “On the day of the incident, Mr Dunroe and his colleague were working in the construction hall and it became necessary to move some equipment during the course of their work.

“Mr Dunroe had not been trained to drive a forklift truck and our investigations have shown that the systems which were in place fell well below the standards that the HSE would expect. In particular, employees who had not been trained would regularly use the vehicle without any steps to stop that from happening.

“What Mr Dunroe was doing was not unusual but the keys to the truck should have been kept in a secure area and only accessed by authorised people. The keys were left in the forklift trucks for workers to use whether they were trained or not – and that is the problem in a nutshell.”

Mr Morris told the bench that the case should be referred to the crown court as magistrates’ sentencing powers were not strong enough.

He said that a fine of £100,000 is considered to be a starting point when someone has died in such circumstances.

Dewi Ap-Thomas, representing Cammell Laird, said the company “would not stand in the way” of the matter being sent to crown court.

Chairman of the bench Alan Smith said: “This case should not be dealt with in this court as its powers are not sufficient enough. It will be referred to Liverpool Crown Court so that the judge there can deal with it more appropriately.”

The case will go before Liverpool Crown Court during the week commencing March 12.