Steel manufacturer Tata Steel and a specialist contractor have been fined a total of £320,000 for safety failings after a worker was killed by a falling metal bar in Redcar.
Kristian Lee Norris from Middlesbrough was working for Vesuvius UK Limited, to re-line a steelmaking furnace at Teeside Cast Products at the time of the fatal incident on 12 April 2008. He was hit on the head by a two foot long metal bar that fell approximately 10 metres from a passenger and goods lift overhead.
Teeside Crown Court heard that an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that adequate precautions were not in place to control the risks from falling tools or other materials. There was a failing on the part of both Mr Norris' employer, Vesuvius, and Tata Steel UK Limited, which then owned Teeside Cast Products. Both defendants were aware of the problems but allowed the work to continue. They both pleaded guilty to breaching the Work at Height Regulations SI 2005/735.
HSE Inspector Richard Bulmer commented, "Kristian's tragic death may have been prevented had Vesuvius and Tata Steel made simple and adequate provisions to protect employees working beneath work and lift platforms. The risks associated with work from height are well known, as are the necessary safeguards. Yet on this occasion the precautions taken to prevent people or objects from falling were wholly insufficient and sorely lacking."
