10.10.2009

Crane accident costs Tate &Lyle £360,000

UK sugar company Tate & Lyle has been fined £270,000 plus £90,000 costs for a fatal crane accident in 2004.

Keith Webb, 53, was employed by Acclaim Logistics, unloading raw sugar from a ship at Tate & Lyle’s sugar refinery at Factory Road, Slivertown, Newham.

He was riding bulldozer that was being lifted into the ship’s hold by a crane, when lug – either on the dozer or the set of lifting chains failed, dropping the machine which struck the ship and then fell into the water. Webb did not survive the fall.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Tate & Lyle Industries after it pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.The company was fined £270,000, with costs of £90,000.

The HSE’s investigation identified a series of failures in Tate & Lyle’s management of its operations at the dock. These included its failure to provide and manage proper means of access to the ships being unloaded and failure to manage and control staff and contractors.

HSE Inspector John Crookes said: “In failing to identify and address these inadequacies before they led to the death of a worker, Tate & Lyle’s performance fell well below what could be reasonably expected of them.”

“Above all, however, this is a human tragedy as Mr Webb leaves a widow, two grown up children, and two grandchildren, one of whom he was sadly never able to meet. This terrible accident should never have been allowed to happen.”

Webb’s widow Avril, who was present in court, said: “Although Keith died five years ago, for me, it’s like yesterday. My husband was ripped from my life, from our family’s lives. There was no illness to prepare us for our loss. I’m still trying to fill the huge void left by his death, still trying to pick up the threads of a life that I can no longer enjoy. I am half of a whole person. I am no longer part of a couple.”