Two aerospace firms have been fined a total of £75,000 after a worker was crushed to death at a Darwen factory.
Allan Sanderson, 50, and Gerald Powderley, 63, were helping to push a trolley carrying more than two tonnes of steel at Holme Mill on Bolton Road in 2008 when the contents suddenly collapsed on top of them.
Gerald Powderley, from Blackburn, broke both legs and his right foot and ankle in the accident. Both legs later required skin grafts, and he is still undergoing treatment today.
Allan Sanderson, also from Blackburn, died in hospital the following morning as a result of his injuries.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Brookhouse Composites and Brookhouse Tooling, owners and Employers of the site, following an investigation into the cause of the incident.
Preston Crown Court heard five workers had been pushing the trolley into a large industrial oven, known as an autoclave, when one of the walkway panels underneath it collapsed.
The investigation found that the trolley, which weighed more than two and a half tonnes, was partially wheeled on the walkway due to not being wide enough to fit on both the load-bearing rails inside the autoclave.
The court was told workers had regularly rolled the trolleys using this method for nearly two years, despite the walkway panels not being designed to carry their weight.
The panel that collapsed had been repaired by Brookhouse Tooling a month before the incident after becoming bent, but the repair was completed to a poor quality.
Both companies admitted putting worker’s lives at risk.
Speaking after the hearing, Lorraine Sanderson said: “I find it difficult coming to terms with the fact that Allan went to work one day but never came home. I just wouldn’t like to think of the same thing happening to someone else.
“I’ve spent all my adult life with Allan. I met him when I was 16 and we had been married for 29 years. He was my world and my life, which revolved around him and our two children.
“Allan was a family man and a devoted husband and father. The past two years have been surreal.
“I feel I’m stuck in a bubble where everything is going to be alright when it pops, but then reality strikes and I know my life will never be the same again.
“I’ve lost my husband ,and our two children have lost their dad, but I also feel Allan was cheated out of the life he wanted to live.
“Our little family unit that we worked on for 29 years is gone forever.”
Brookhouse Composites, now trading as Kaman Composites UK, was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay £35,000 in costs. Brookhouse Tooling, now trading as Kaman Tooling, was fined £25,000 with costs of £35,000.
Alex Farnhill, the investigating inspector at HSE, added: “Allan Sanderson has tragically lost his life and Gerald Powderley is still very badly injured because neither of the companies responsible for their safety picked up on the warning signs.
“The walkway panels were bent out of shape over several months but no one appeared to be concerned about what was causing this. The situation was made worse by the poor choice of repair technique and standard of welding on the panel. This ultimately led to the collapse of the panel.
“If the companies had thought more about the risks workers faced, then Mr Sanderson would still be alive today.”
A total of 25 workers were killed and more than 4,000 suffered major injuries in the manufacturing industry in Great Britain last year. Information on preventing injuries is available at www.hse.gov.uk/manufacturing.
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