Construction company cops £120,000 fine over trucker's death

A construction supply company has been fined £120,000 after a lorry driver fell to his death in one of their yards.

Saint-Gobain Building Distribution was charged after Nigel Sargeant, 45, fell 4.6m after he tried to reduce the height of his trailer load of steel poles on 5 August 2005.

Boston-based Calders and Grandidge, part of Saint-Gobain, decided to expand their business from the manufacture and supply of timber poles to include steel poles.

The day before the first full load of 96 steel pipes were to be dispatched, Mr Sargeant climbed onto his trailer to try to reduce the height because he was concerned with the clearance under bridges.

A workmate found him unconscious on the ground with head injuries. He died in hospital the following day.

Health and Safety inspector Jo Anderson said the workers “had been left to their own devices” to work out how to load the poles.

She said: “(Mr Sargeant) cut the bands around one of the pole packs and the load shifted causing him to fall.

“The height of the load exceeded the height of the pins fitted to the trailer to hold the load in place.”

The firm was found guilty in the Lincoln Crown Court of failing to have a suitable risk assessment in place and for failing to have effective planning and protective measures in place for the introduction of new products.

Jurors were unable to reach a verdict on a charge that the firm failed to ensure a safe system of work in relation to the loading of the poles.

The firm was also ordered to pay £51,000 in costs.