BAe Systems fined £350,000 following death

BAE Systems  were fined £350,000 (inc. costs) following a death on an employeed in a press.

The circumstances were:

• Gary Whiting was part of a 4-man team carrying out a routine service of a large metal press, a machine the size of a two-bedroom house.
  
• The press was one of only a handful in the country and used to make Hawk jet trainer components.
  
• It was serviced around four times a year and all the maintenance team were experienced workers.
• Two men were working at one end of the machine and two at the opposite end. Neither pair could properly see the other.
  
• Mr Whiting and his colleague were working with one of the two trays that fed into either end of the press.
  
• The other team was testing the tray bed and press frame at the other side.
  
• Mr Whiting entered the machine to remove a piece of equipment.
  
• At the same time, one of his colleagues at the far end started the full test cycle of the press frame.
  
• The 45-square-metre frame descended, trapping and crushing Mr Whiting who died later that day. 

The HSE found that:

• There were serious safety failings of BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd at its plant in Saltgrounds Road, Brough.
  
• There were a series of flaws in safety practices during maintenance of the metal press, some of which had existed for many years.
  
• There were no suitable assessment of the risks associated with the test process.
  
• There was a lack of engineering control measures to prevent entry by workers to dangerous parts of the machine during testing or to stop the machine if anyone did enter a danger zone.

The HSE Inspector said:"This was an entirely preventable tragedy that devastated Mr Whiting’s wife, Jackie, his two children and his wider family. They have shown admirable resilience during what has been a protracted and, at times painful, process. The dangers of maintenance work on these types of machines are well- known yet BAE Systems Ltd failed to identify those risks and its serious failings led to this tragedy. Although the press machine had been serviced regularly, it was done in the same unacceptable way and it is surprising there had not been an earlier incident. The guarding was inadequate and there were no key safety systems, no light guards or interlocks on the doors of the machine; nothing that would have either prevented entry to dangerous parts or stopped the machine if entry was made. In addition, there were no instructions, either written or verbal, given by BAE to workers about how to carry out the testing process safely. This incident should serve as a reminder to companies to ensure that dangerous parts of their machines are identified and measures taken to properly protect their workers. No company should put its employees at unnecessary risk."

The accident occurred over 4 years ago.

Source: HSE 21/5/13  Y&H/105/13