Company fined after crush death

A construction firm has been fined £50,000 after one of its workers was crushed to death by a bundle of 120 steel bars weighing nearly 1.5 tonnes.

Kyle Newell, 19, was working for McNicholas Construction Services Ltd on an excavation site in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, when he died in 2003.

The bars fell on Mr Newell, of Bryniau in Denbighshire, north Wales, from a height of about 5m (16.4ft).

The construction firm admitted breaking Health and Safety legislation.

'Worked tirelessly'

It admitted at an earlier hearing failing to ensure the safety of one of its workers.

The bars fell on the teenager, who was part of a three-man team, as they were being lowered into an overflow storm drain chamber being built for Severn Trent Water plc.

Sentencing the construction company at Birmingham Crown Court, Judge Estella Hindley said she took into account a number of mitigating factors, including that it was not a deliberate breach and there was no evidence of cost-cutting for profit.

But she added: "The incident resulted in this young man, who was going about his normal work, losing his life and his family and friends are the poorer for it."

McNicholas Construction Services Ltd was ordered to pay £11,337 costs following the incident in February 2003.

In a statement, it expressed its deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Mr Newell.

The firm said: "McNicholas, who at the time had a good safety record, has worked tirelessly to further strengthen and improve its safety measures and policies.

"The company has invested heavily in staff safety training and support and developed a number of intensive ongoing programmes to ensure that the highest standards of health, safety and environmental awareness are maintained."