Latest Health & Safety Cases

Farming and haulage company Pearn Wyatt & Son has been fined £21,000 with £54,000 costs, after a 24-year-old agriculture worker, Sam Foley, from Newmarket in Suffolk, was crushed to death on a farm in Norfolk.

Mr. Foley had been using a tractor to tow manure to a field at Grange Farm, in Snetterton, on 8 July 2007. He was dumping manure out of a tipper trailer when the drawbar broke and crashed forwards through the back of the tractor, fatally crushing him in the cab. Mr. Foley died at the scene.

An investigation by the HSE found the tipper trailer had not been adequately maintained for some time and as a result, was not suitable for handling solid manure.

Timothy John Wyatt and Jonathan Pearn Wyatt, trading as Pearn Wyatt & Son had already admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at an earlier hearing.

HSE Inspector Malcolm Crowther said:

"This sad death of a young man in his early 20s should never have happened. Pearn Wyatt & Son did not carry out their legal duty to ensure the health and safety of their employees - and the result was this tragic death. The trailer had not been maintained properly and was not suitable for transporting solid manure.

Farming is one of the country's most dangerous industries with people often working on their own and in remote locations.

In this case, it was down to Pearn Wyatt & Son to ensure the equipment was maintained properly and safe for the farm workers to use - something the company did not do. If more farmers and farming companies 'make the promise' then hopefully we can avoid repeating tragic incidents such as this one."

More information on the HSE's Make The Promise campaign can be found at www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/makethepromise/index.htm.

If you would like to know how Park City can help you significantly reduce the chance of accidents like this from occurring in your own company, call us today on tel: 0800 542 7550.