Vauxhall owner sentenced over Ellesmere Port death

General Motors UK Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) after Ian Heard was found at the North Road plant on 22
July 2010. The 59-year-old from Birkenhead, who joined Vauxhall as an
apprentice at the age of 16, was taken to the Countess of Chester
Hospital where he died 11 days later.

 Liverpool Crown Court heard today (14 August 2013) that Mr Heard had
been working in the paint unit at the factory where trolleys – known as
skids – carry cars through a conveyer system to be spray painted.

He had entered the part of the unit where the skids are stacked in
order to try and free some after they became stuck. As he moved them the
machine restarted and he was crushed.

The HSE investigation found a doorway had been created through a wall
at the back of the paint unit, sometime after the machine had been
installed in the 1990s, which allowed access without the power being
cut.

The court was told it had previously not been possible to get to the
conveyor system while it was still operating as light sensors at the
front of the machine meant it stopped if a worker walked over them.
There was also an access gate in the fence around the machine, which
could only be opened once the power had been switched off.

A risk assessment carried out in 2000 – ten years before Mr Heard’s
death – identified the potential danger posed by the new door but no
further action was taken by the company. It had also become standard
practice for workers to use the door to free skids when they became
stuck.

General Motors pleaded guilty to single breaches of the Health and
Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment
Regulations 1998 by failing to ensure the safety of employees, and
failing to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery.

The company, of Osborne Road in Luton, Bedfordshire, was fined £150,000 and ordered to pay £19,654 in prosecution costs.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Martin Paren said:

“Ian Heard was a dedicated and loyal worker at Vauxhall for more than
40 years, but sadly he lost his life because of the company’s safety
failings.

“There was absolutely no point in Vauxhall carrying out a risk
assessment into the dangers posed by the machine if it wasn’t going to
act on the recommendations.

As a result workers who walked through the door to free up skids in
the paint unit were put in danger for almost a decade, and one of them
eventually suffered fatal injuries.

“The company has now installed a new safety system on the door which
means power to the machine has to cut before the door can be opened. If
this system had been in place in July 2010 then Mr Heard’s life could
have been saved.”

Ian’s brother, Martin Heard, added:

“My brother worked at Vauxhall for 43 years and was looking forward
to retirement. He was loyal to the company and to his colleagues.

“This loyalty and Vauxhall’s neglect of its basic duty of care to the
workforce cost my brother his life. Commercial pressure should not be a
consideration where safety of staff is concerned.

“This prosecution and substantial fine should serve as a reminder to
companies large and small that they have responsibilities to look after
the safety of those they employ.”

The latest figures show 20 people were killed while working in the
manufacturing industry in Great Britain in 2012/13. Information on
improving safety is available at www.hse.gov.uk/manufacturing.