Deaths in 2001

Click on the names below for further case details

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FURTHER DETAILS OF DEATHS

Allan Mannerings

Allan, an experienced tiler, died from head injuries after falling two metres from scaffolding which was just one board wide and with no handrail.

The company was charged with manslaughter and health and safety offences [breaches of reg. 29 and reg.6 of the Construction (Health, Safety and
Welfare) Regulations 1996] at Maidstone Crown Court in February 2003 but the manslaughter charge were later dropped when Mr Swift and his company admitted to the lesser health and safety offences.

The Court heard how the scaffolding was put up by an experienced company but, at Alan Swift's request, adjustments were made by someone unqualified for the job.

The company was ordered to pay £25,000 in costs and fines. Mr. Swift was also ordered to pay £12,500.

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Anthony Raymond Rowland

Tony Rowland, a maintenance worker, died in hospital three days after falling through a rooflight at Focus Do It All, Sevington while he and two colleagues were repairing the roof. Though previously warned the men failed to use safety equipment as they felt the risk did not warrant it and the use of a clamp and safety line was not possible on hipped roofs.

A colleague, Ian Wagstaff, who had been on the roof with Tony at the time of the incident, said the steel roof was punctuated with perspex skylights every five metres. The perspex would not bear much weight and it was hard to tell where the skylights were. Tony, Ian and Barry Vardon, another colleague, were spraying paint around the skylight to make their position clearer.

The inquest was held at Ashford and Shepway Coroner’s Court on 16 April 2002. Barry Vardon told the inquest that Tony was still conscious after the fall and had said that he had put his hand on a roof light that he had thought was a steel roof sheet.

Keith Ellis the Managing Director of TGM said his men should have called for a scaffolding tower and used skylight covers to work on the hipped roof section where the incident happened.

A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.

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David George Marshall

David, a forklift truck driver, died while he was operating the truck. He was found pinned between the back of the truck and the inside wall of a trailer.

The inquest was held at Ashford and Shepway Coroner’s Court on 5 and 6 February 2002. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.

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Sandra Lane

Sandra, a member of the public, was killed after hitting a paving machine which was being loaded onto a low loader trailer. The plant was parked on the Maidstone-bound lane of the A20 following the resurfacing of a section of the road.

The inquest was to be held at Mid Kent and Midway Coroner’s Court.

In April 2005 at Maidstone Crown Court three companies and Kent County Council were fined a total of £90,000. The Council and the companies were each ordered to pay £10,797 in costs.

Ringway and Ringway Highway Services of Horsham, West Sussex, O'Hara Surfacing of Park Royal, London, and the Council admitted health and safety breaches.

Maidstone Crown Court fined the council £10,000 and each company £20,000.

'Ms Lane would still be alive today if the collection of the equipment used for the resurfacing of the carriageway had been planned and simple precautions implemented,' said Health and Safety Inspector Peter Collingwood. 'Lorry low loaders should be equipped with basic traffic management equipment. This may be as simple as a warning sign and traffic cones.

'Lorries used for this work should also be conspicuously coloured and equipped with amber flashing beacons, which should be visible to approaching motorists from both directions.'

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Andrew Finan

Andrew, a goods driver for a firm manufacturing mortar, was killed when he fell in a mortar delivery vehicle while washing down a compartment. He became entangled in a moving mixing paddle.

The inquest was held at Mid Kent and Midway Coroner’s Court 3 February 2003 when an 'Accidental Death' verdict was returned.

HSE prosecuted Hanson because protective grilles over the dangerous section were not in place. Prosecuting at Maidstone Magistrates Court, Caroline Knight explained, 'This was an obvious and serious risk.' It highlighted poor management as a proper risk assessment had not been carried out. Staff training had also been insufficient.

The company agreed with the HSE that, due to the public interest in cases of this nature, it should be dealt with by the Crown Court.

On 23 June 2003 Hanson was fined £25,000 with £5,500 costs at Hastings Crown Court.

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David Beak

David, a security guard, died from carbon monoxide poisoning at the former Ashford hospital. He was working near a petrol heater - used to provide the security guards with light and hot water - at the unventilated site.

An inquest was held at Ashford and Shepway Coroner’s Court on 5th and 6th November 2003 when an 'Accidental Death' verdict was returned..

In July 2005, the company, Royle Security, was convicted of health and safety offences and fined £10,000. Phillip Royle, chairman of the company, was also convicted and fined £50,000. The HSE said, 'This was a tragic and preventable incident that claimed the life of a man and the HSE takes incidents such as this very seriously. Petrol heaters should not be placed in unventilated areas under any circumstances.'

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Ian Chevrest

Ian was killed and his wife injured when their their vehicle was in collision with another vehicle on a sliproad onto the A229 at Buckmore near Chatham. The road had become contaminated with mud from a construction site exit.

An 'Accidental Death' verdict was returned at the inquest at Mid Kent and Medway Coroner's Court on 4 July 2002.

In July 2004, at Medway Magistrates Court, Costain Ltd, Skanska JV Projects Ltd, Mowlem PLC and Overdens Earthmoving Co Ltd all pleaded guilty to health and safety offences and were fined a total of £37,000 for failure to ensure that persons not in their employment were not exposed to risk to their safety.

John Underwood, HSE Inspector, said, 'The critical issue is that even for small companies, those involved in doing the work must be properly briefed by those planning the work, so that people know what to do if things go wrong. Sadly this did not happen in this case.'

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