A building materials company, Cemex UK Operations Limited, were fined £1 million after a worker suffered fatal injuries - he was struck on the body by a centering machine lifting mast.
Livingston Sheriff Court was told that, on 13 May 2017, James Brownlie was carrying out some maintenance and repair work on a dry sided conveyor - part of which ran underneath a machine known as a centering machine. The centering machine in question was not isolated at the time, and so when part of Mr Brownlie's body interrupted the path of the light beam that ran between the sensor's emitter and reflector, it caused the machine to react - the lifting mast proceeded to activate and descend, which hit his body and caused internal injuries from which he later died.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), found that Cemex UK Operations Limited failed to ensure the centering machine was isolated prior to the maintenance and repair work being carried out on the conveyor. Cemex UK Operations Limited, of Evereux Way, in Rugby, pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act etc 1974 and were subsequently fined £1,000,000.
Speaking after the hearing, the HSE inspector Kim Ross has said, "This tragic incident led to the avoidable death of a man, which could have easily been prevented if they had taken action to ensure the centering machine was isolated prior to the maintenance and repair work being carried out."
Adding that, "If this had been in place before the incident, James Brownlie's death could have been prevented."
