Company fined after driver died in Newport scrapyard

The scrapyard owners pleaded guilty at Cardiff Crown Court

The owners of a scrap metal yard have been fined £200,000 after a lorry driver was killed by a crushed car.

Adrian Turner, 50, from Wolverhampton, was hit by a metal bale which rolled off a heap at the yard in Newport, south-east Wales, in April 2008.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted yard owners Sims Group UK Ltd, of Stratford upon Avon.

In a statement Mr Turner's family said the financial penalty handed down offered them little comfort.

While delivering scrap to the site on 28 April, 2008, Mr Turner was told to deliver his load to the metal shredder area of the yard.

He left his cab and was opening the rear doors to his trailer when the one-and-a-half tonne metal bale on the scrap pile came loose and rolled down into him.

We have been torn apart by Adrian's death and wish that no other family has to endure the loss of a loved one in the manner we did The family of Adrian Turner

He had not received any site safety induction from Sims UK Ltd and was following instructions given by Sims operatives when he was killed.

Sims Group UK Ltd, pleaded guilty to a charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act, and at Cardiff Crown Court the company was fined £200,000 and ordered to pay £57,700 costs.

HSE inspector Sarah Baldwin-Jones said: "Metal recycling yards can be extremely dangerous places so it's imperative companies have safe working procedures and systems in place that are observed by all staff and contractors.

"This tragic incident arose because it was custom for the loading of scrap onto the stockpile even though delivery drivers were in the immediate vicinity of it.

"Mr Turner was struck from behind by the metal bale - a crushed motor vehicle. Unfortunately, death or serious injury was an inevitable consequence.

"The size and nature of the stockpile, combined with the method used to feed it meant that it was highly likely that materials would fall."

In a statement Mr Turner's family said: "While the financial penalty handed down to Sims Group UK Ltd today offers little comfort to our family we hope that it serves a warning to those companies operating in the waste recycling industry.

"It should be an absolute priority to ensure death and injury to employees and others on site is avoided.

"We have been torn apart by Adrian's death and wish that no other family has to endure the loss of a loved one in the manner we did."