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Watling Tyre fined £1m for fatal shovel tyre explosion

2 Jun 16 Kent-based Watling Tyre Service has been fined £1 million after an untrained 21-year-old employee was killed when a tyre exploded.

Matthew Hoare
Matthew Hoare

Matthew Hoare, from Canterbury, was trying to fix a puncture on a Dresser loading shovel at Hammill Brickworks in Sandwich.

The incident happened 10 years ago, on 27th January 2006, but only now has the case been finally resolved.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that Matthew Hoare was working on his own with inadequate work equipment, which was not properly maintained. He had worked for the company for six months but had not received training and was not competent to undertake the work to which he was assigned.

Watling Tyre Service Limited pleaded guilty, at a previous hearing on 29th January 2016, to breaches of Section 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. It was yesterday fined £1 million and ordered to pay costs of £99,485.

Andrew Wright, director in charge of health and safety at Watling Tyres, was found not guilty on two counts of health and safety breaches last month.

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MPU
MPU

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