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Builders fined £225k for dumper truck fatality

21 Nov 19 An Essex construction company has been fined £225,000 following an incident in which a worker was killed when a dumper truck overturned.

Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court heard that on 3rd October 2016, David Scott Green, a groundworker working for Rose Builders Ltd, was manoeuvring a nine-tonne front tipping dumper truck on a spoil heap to offload top soil at the Summers Park Development site in Colchester, Essex.

As the truck rode the spoil heap it overbalance, toppling forward and coming to rest upside down. A colleague noticed the overturned truck and ran to assist, but Mr Green had sustained a serious head injury during the fall and died at the scene.

An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found major deficiencies in the management of tipping operations on the spoil heaps. The investigation established that the operation was not properly planned; drivers were not given instruction or training on how to safely operate vehicles and tip on spoil heaps, and the job itself was poorly supervised. The victim did not have his seat belt fastened and the investigation confirmed that this was common practice on the site.

Rose Builders Ltd of Riverside House, East Lawford, Essex pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2 (1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The company was fined £225,000 and ordered to pay costs of £11,822.90.

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