A TARPORLEY company has been fined £10,000 for failing to ensure the safety of a worker crushed by a container of dye.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) warned of the danger of using forklift trucks after Mark Kiveal died when a container of dye crushed him as he was assisting with an unloading operation at the company’s premises in Altrincham.
Townley Dyestuffs Ltd of High Street, Tarporley, was prosecuted following the incident on August 24, 2005.
The company pleaded guilty to a charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 they failed to ensure the safety at work of an employee. They were fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £6,963.25 costs.
The court heard the incident happened when a 1.1 ton container of dye slid off the front of the forks of a forklift truck crushing Mark Kiveal.
The accident happened at the company’s premises on the Manway Business Park, Canal Road, Timperley in Altrincham, Cheshire.
Two containers had successfully been emptied before the third slipped causing the incident.
Health and Safety Executive inspector Richard Clarke said: “This was a tragic accident that could have been prevented had a safe system of work been in place. The container had a specialist mechanism for emptying it, but an improvised method was used when the incident happened.”
