06/04/2010 - £100,000 fine over engineer's death
The death of a maintenance engineer has resulted in a Wales-based company being fined £100,000.
Jens Hinrichs, of Hexham, was working at the factory of Hydro Aluminium Extrusion Ltd in Chester-le-Street when he was struck by a shuttle car, which ran on rail tracks, picking up finished items.
Mr Hinrichs, 38, was working within a shuttle line that transported finished aluminium products from the packing stations to the banding machine, Durham Crown Court heard. The shuttle car ran at the rear of the four packing stations.
HAE, of Caerphilly, Mid Glamorgan, admitted breaching health and safety regulations by not ensuring the safety of an employee. The accident happened on November 2, 2006, and Mr Hinrichs, originally from Germany, was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. The firm was ordered to pay costs of £13,375.
HSE inspector Zoë Feather said having a suitable system to ensure workers could not gain access into the shuttle line could have prevented the accident.
"Where work needed to be carried out in the shuttle enclosure, suitable isolation procedures and systems of work should have been in place to prevent dangerous movement of machinery," said Ms Feather.
Copyright © Press Association 2010
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