Manufacturer’s insolvency results in £1 fine after worker’s death
A Black Country door manufacturer has been fined a nominal £1 after it appointed a liquidator one month before a court case about the death of a worker.
Advance Door Engineering in Tipton, along with Welsh firm Shufflebottom, were held responsible for an incident when a man died when he fell from a telehandler.
The unnamed 50-year-old self-employed contractor from Telford was working for Advance, which had been contracted by Shufflebottom to fabricate and install roller shutter doors on an extension to a slipway building at Mustang Marine in Pembroke Dock, south Wales.
The contractor was working at height with a co-worker on a telehandler when it came into contact with fencing. When the telehandler was released from the obstruction it caused the basket to jerk, throwing both operators from the basket. The contractor was not clipped onto the basket and fell to the ground sustaining fatal injuries.
Both companies pleaded guilty at Swansea Crown Court to breaches of health and safety regulations about the incident, which took place in 2013. Carmarthenshire-based Shufflebottom was fined £125,000 and ordered to pay costs of £43,000.
Advance was fined £1, due to its insolvency. Mark Bowen, of MB Insolvency, was appointed as the liquidator of Advance on December 7, 2016. The company had debts of £570,000 when it collapsed, including £140,000 that was owed to HM Revenue and Customs.
