Rice firm in Medway fined more than £100,000 after death of Gravesend man
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by Keith Hunt
A Medway company has been fined £140,000 over the death of an
employee in a horrifying work accident.
Balwinder Singh Aulkh, of Gravesend, was trapped for several
hours in a grain silo at Veetee Rice in Neptune Close, Medway City
Estate, Strood.
The 46-year-old rice miller’s left leg had to be amputated to
release him from the machinery but he was dead on arrival at
hospital.
The company, which had a turnover of almost £46 million last
year, admitted breaching a Health and Safety regulation covering
use of equipment.
Quentin Hunt, prosecuting, said the tragedy would have been
prevented by a cheap padlock being put on the outer door of the
silo to stop workers entering.
Mr Aulkh, of Damigos Road, Gravesend, was at work on on
September 11, 2006, when he spotted on a computer screen that the
flow of rice from the silo was slowing down.
He went
into the silo to investigate and his leg became entangled in the
underfloor screw conveyor – a piece of machinery used to take rice
from the silo. The alarm sounded and another worker, Mohammed
Arshad, heard Mr Aulkh’s screams.
"He was understandably in a lot of distress," Mr Hunt told
Maidstone Crown Court. "The conveyor was stopped. Attempts were
made to reverse it to free his leg. That was impossible."
The emergency services arrived and eventually amputated the leg,
but the married father, who worked for Veetee for 12 years, did not
survive.
Judge Jeremy Carey said: "This must have been a truly horrendous
experience for this poor man. Waiting in that silo to be removed
must have been pure hell for him.
"This must have been the most deeply traumatising
experience."
The HSE said in a statement that the firm had already pleaded
guilty to contravening regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of
Work Equipment Regulations 1998 at a previous hearing at Medway
Magistrates’ Court. The company was also ordered to pay costs of
£20,500.
Mike Walters, HSE Principal Inspector in Kent, said: “This
incident could so easily have been prevented if Veetee Rice Limited
had ensured that a suitable system was in place to prevent access
to the silo unless the screw conveyor was electrically
isolated.
“HSE will not tolerate employers exposing their workers to
unacceptable levels of risk in the workplace and this case
highlights the fact that something as simple and cheap as a padlock
could have prevented someone being killed at work."
Thursday, November 05 2009
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