Health and safety failings end in tragedy

A plastics manufacturer in Rochdale has been fined £140,000 after a man was crushed to death when in an accident at work when a wooden pallet containing over 50 bags of polypropylene fell onto him.

TS (UK) Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 after the workplace accident in July 2005. It occurred when Abel Lages, from Portugal, who worked at the plant as a cleaner, died from his injuries when the pallet, weighing almost one and a half tonnes, fell on top of him. The HSE prosecuted the firm after the incident, saying that they had failed to ensure the safety of its employees and that they did not have a worker trained in First Aid on duty.

John McGrellis, an HSE principal inspector for Greater Manchester said: “Mr Lages died because TS (UK) Ltd didn’t treat the health and safety of its workers as a priority. There were labels on the polypropylene bags that made it clear how they should be stored safely but this advice was ignored.”

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