RRS London Waste Papers Ltd has been fined £250,000 following the death of a male employee at its paper recycling site in Erith, South East London.
The Erith premises of RRS London Waste Papers (picture: HSE)
The RRS London Waste Papers site in Erith. However, the insolvency practitioner who took over RRS London Waste Papers Ltd when it was voluntarily struck off in February 2018, has said that he had warned the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) “at the beginning of proceedings”, that the company was heavily insolvent and thus not able to pay a fine.
Nobody representing RRS London Waste Papers was at the hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court earlier this week.
March 2017
The fine relates to an incident in March 2017, when Krzysztof Pawlak, a Polish national, suffered fatal injuries after falling down a loading hopper and into the compaction chamber of a baling machine.
The baling machine at RRS London Waste Papers (picture: HSE)
A subsequent investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Mr Pawlak was “most likely” attempting to clear a blockage and falling into the chamber initiated the compaction sequence.
As well as the £250,000 fine, RRS was also ordered by Westminster Magistrates Court to pay costs of £6,639.77, and a victim surcharge of £170.
“RRS London Waste Papers Ltd of Manor Road, Erith was found guilty of breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £250,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,639.77 and a victim surcharge of £170,” the HSE statement said.
‘Easily preventable’
The HSE said its investigation found that the incident could have been prevented had RRS London Waste Papers devised and instructed workers on a safe method for clearing machine blockages.
The organisation added that climbing up the baler to clear machine blockages exposed workers to the risk of falling a significant distance either into the compaction chamber or the surrounding concrete floor.
The baler, wire and a bale at RRS London Waste Services (picture: HSE)
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Nicholas Wright stated that the incident was “easily preventable”.
“This tragic incident, which led to the avoidable death of a father, was easily preventable and the risk should have been identified. Employers should make sure they properly assess and apply effective control measures to minimise the risk from dangerous parts of machinery,” he explained.
Mr Wright added: “Maintenance work should only be carried out when the piece of equipment is isolated and confirmed safe. Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards.”
Wound up
The inquest into the fatality was opened in April 2017 by the HSE, who told letsrecycle.com at the time: “HSE are aware of this incident and we are currently assisting the police with their enquiries”.
After the company was voluntarily stuck off, S T Bennett & Co, a licensed insolvency company based in Essex, was the company behind insolvency proceedings.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com Stuart Bennett, of the insolvency firm, said it wasn’t possible that RRS London Waste Papers could have paid the fine, but he understood why the HSE took the proceedings further.
“We said right at the beginning that company was heavily insolvent, and thus couldn’t pay such a fine,” explained Mr Bennett.
He added: “I understand why they pushed forward with proceedings, as they need to be seen to be doing something, but there was no merit in this case right from the beginning, as there was no way the company could pay. I decided not to go to the hearing in the end.”
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Source: letsrecycle.com General
