Risk, Health and Safety Information

Worker's death leads to £75,000 fine for Nuneaton transport firm

A Nuneaton storage and distribution firm has been fined after a worker was killed when a tall stack of empty wooden pallets toppled on to him.

Marcin Rogala, 29, who lived in Harold Street, Nuneaton, was working at Ralph Coleman International Ltd on the Bermuda Industrial Estate in Nuneaton when the incident happened on 9 November 2010.

Warwick Crown Court was told that Mr Rogala and his colleagues were gathering up fallen pallets from a tall stack that had collapsed in the yard on that wet and windy morning.

As Mr Rogala and other workers removed the wooden pallets, another tall stack toppled over. Others jumped clear but Mr Rogala was struck by the pallets, which weighed 36kg each, and died after sustaining multiple injuries.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that a lack of effective management control over operations in the pallet yard, combined with high stock levels, had led to an unsafe environment and stacks being made too tall.

Ralph Coleman International Ltd, of Gresham Road, Bermuda Industrial Estate, Nuneaton, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £75,000 and ordered to pay costs of £25,316.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Roger Amery said:

"This death was a tragedy which could have been prevented if this company had given proper and thoughtful attention to its pallet yard operation. Its failure to do so put other workers at risk and led to the death of Mr Rogala.

"Lots of firms form unsupported or freestanding stacks in their yards. I hope this death and the penalty imposed prompts them to check the condition and height of their stacks so that this doesn’t happen again."