NI concrete firm fined £90,000 after worker fatality

HSENI investigation results in £90,000 fine for Taranto Ltd following the death of a worker

Following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI), Tandragee-based concrete product manufacturers Taranto Ltd have been fined £90,000 at Newry Crown Court after pleading guilty to a single health and safety offence.

The investigation followed the death of 21-year-old Matthew Biggerstaff, a production operative employed at the company’s main production site in Tandragee on 3 August 2021. Mr Biggerstaff and two of his colleagues had been tasked to remove concrete which had set and accumulated on the interior walls of a truck-mounted mixing drum.

The employees took turns to enter the interior of the drum, using an impact hammer to manually chip away hardened concrete. Access was gained by entering the access hatches located on either side of the drum. Whilst Mr Biggerstaff was completing this task, the drum rotated causing him to be ejected from the access hatch, drawn under the drum, and suffer fatal crush injuries.

Prosecutors in the PPS’s Fraud & Departmental Section worked closely with the HSENI to build a robust prosecution case. Speaking after the hearing, HSENI Principal Inspector Justine McIntyre said: ‘This tragic and preventable incident resulted in a young man losing his life.

‘Concrete operators must always consider if they can eliminate the need to enter the mixing drum to perform such activities. Where this is not possible, employers must ensure that an adequate and robust risk assessment and safe system of work is in place and that employees involved in the work activity have been suitably trained.’

Ms McIntyre continued: ‘Performing cleaning and maintenance activities within the interior of concrete mixing drums presents safety risks which must be controlled. Both the truck and the mixing drum must be adequately locked out. Following lock-out, where there is any residual risk of the drum rotating, adequate measures must be taken to secure the drum and prevent it from moving when any person is inside.’

The investigation found that the drum had not been effectively locked-off, nor had the drum itself been secured to prevent any powered or inadvertent rotational movement. Moreover, the company failed to conduct a suitable task specific risk assessment and implement a safe system of work including the use of appropriate control measures to mitigate the risk.