Manufacturers need to take all reasonable steps to protect the health, safety and welfare of staff, and others affected by their undertaking, in order to escape these punitive fines.
In this article, we highlight some manufacturer prosecutions and lessons to be learned.
Case 1: Jaguar Land Rover
In 2017, Jaguar Land Rover was fined £900,000 after a worker lost their leg following a car collision on the production line. The incident occurred at the Solihull plant in 2015, when a driver lost control of a Range Rover Sport being driven towards the production line. This collided with another car, causing cars to shunt and trap a worker crossing the production line. His injuries resulted in the amputation of his right leg above the knee. Two other employees also suffered minor injuries. Jaguar Land Rover, were found guilty of breaching Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and fined £900,000 with costs of £49,800.
The HSE inspector at the time declared that these life-changing injuries were completely avoidable. Jaguar Land Rover had failed to ensure that the driver of the Range Rover, who was covering the shift, was familiar with procedures. Improvements have since been implemented, including a buffer zone to reduce the risk of a similar accident.
Case 2: Tata Steel
In 2018, Tata Steel UK Limited were fined £1.4 million after an employee was crushed to death in 2010, by an overhead crane. Whilst he was examining a crane as part of his inspection duties, an overhead crane travelled over the cage he was in, trapping and then crushing him to death. Mr Standerline was a maintenance electrician and was only 26 years old, leaving behind a family devastated by their loss.
The Health and Safety Executive’s investigation found that Tata Steel had failed to enforce its own safety procedures, despite having two previous incidents before Mr Standerline’s death. The HSE also found Tata Steel failed to put in place essential control measures which would have prevented the overhead crane that killed Mr Standerline from even being in operation.
Tata Steel UK Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 and Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Safety procedures need to be practical, workable, understood and enforced. This case highlights how important it is for safety procedures to cascade from the top down in a large organisation and be implemented in practice, not just a document in a folder.
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