Haulage bosses urged to follow basic safety precautions
Commercial insurance
25th March 2009
Employers in the haulage industry have been warned not to neglect rudimentary safety precautions after a fatality at an east London depot.
Joseph Caruana was killed at the RMC Readymix depot in Tower Hamlets when his articulated lorry jack-knifed, throwing him under the wheels of a trailer.
John Peter Wootten - formerly known as AEP Aggregates - was given a fine of £4,000 and ordered to pay costs of £750 after pleading guilty to breaching the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations.
Charles Linfoot, a Health and Safety Executive inspector, described the company's failure to follow basic safety rules as "appalling".
"Hauliers need to make sure they have safe systems of work, which include risk assessments, adequate training and supervision of all workers," he commented.
In related news, companies are being put off from opening distribution depots in the Northampton area because of the town's negative image regarding lorry crime, reports the Northampton Chronicle.
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