Chaotic site entrance sees two firms exit court minus £135,000

Prosecutions and Claims |
15.09.2007

A packaging manufacturer and its security contractor have racked up a total of almost £135,000 in fines and costs after a guard was run over by a car at a badly laid-out entrance gate.

Rigid Containers of Desborough, Northamptonshire, and G4S Security Services were sentenced on 30 July for failing to segregate workplace transport and failing to provide a safe system of work for security staff.

At around 6am on 17 February 2006, a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) was exiting Rigid Containers' Desborough factory. Security officer Robert Campbell left his cabin at the main entrance to take details of the registration and trailer numbers from the HGV for the company's records. As he walked back to the security cabin, a worker leaving the site by car at the end of the night shift struck him. His forehead hit the windscreen leaving him severely concussed.
HSE inspector David Welsh, who led the investigation, said the car driver was not speeding and was not at fault. "It's a classic workplace transport accident that could have been avoided with the right controls," Welsh told HSW. In front of the security cabin there was simply an open paved area, with no barriers to protect the guards, and no signage or road marking to instruct pedestrians or drivers. Six months previously, Rigid Containers had changed the traffic arrangements so goods vehicles used what had formerly been just an entrance for cars.

"It was a complete mess," said Welsh. "There was an unmarked traffic junction in front of the security cabin, with no clear instructions provided to the security staff to control barriers or what traffic to give priority to. The system of work was unsafe because it relied on officers going out into this open area to check on lorries and put them in danger."

He also noted the gate had no adequate lighting and that the accident took place in darkness.

"Clearly, Rigid Containers were responsible for the design and layout of their main entrance," said Welsh. But he said G4S shared responsibility because it had agreed a system of work that was patently unsuitable; had not given Campbell health and safety training or supplied him with a hi-visibility vest or safety shoes; and had a generic risk assessment that didn't deal with the specifics of the site.

At Northampton County Court, Rigid Containers was fined £37,500 for breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSW Act) for failing to protect Campbell, and the same amount again for not organising the workplace so pedestrians and vehicles could circulate safely, contrary to Regulation 17(1) of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations. It was ordered to pay HSE costs of £10,650. G4S Security services was fined £50,000 for breaching Section 2(1) of the HSW Act, plus £7900 costs. Rigid has since altered the entrance so the security booth is separated from the roadway by barriers, with clear signage and road markings.