Firm fined £1m after worker killed in Manchester by reversing HGV

A wholesale grocery supplier has been fined £1m after one of its workers was killed by a reversing HGV.

Bestway Northern Limited employee Lee Warburton was making a delivery with a colleague to a store in Manchester when he was fatally crushed in February 2019.

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) said the 53-year-old father-of-three from Stockport became trapped between the lorry and a wall while acting as a banksman, directing the HGV into an unloading area.

The London-based company admitted failing to implement a safe system of work for vehicle movements and adequately assess the risks for employees acting as banksmen.

Mr Warburton’s partner, Hayley Tomlinson, described the day he died as the worst of her life.

“To be taken in such a cruel manner made it even harder,” she said. “Knowing the pain and fear Lee must have gone through was unbearable.

“But nothing compares to the moment I had to tell our children their Daddy was never coming home.”

She added: “It broke my children’s spirits – they lost the sparkle in their eyes. Lee was their hero.

“My children will miss out on all the milestones Lee should have been here for – walking them down the aisle, meeting their first child.

“They miss the cuddles, the love he showed them, the days out. This has changed our lives forever.”

The HSE investigation found Bestway Northern Limited, of Abbey Road in Park Royal, had failed to implement a safe system of work for vehicle movements.

The company also failed to adequately assess the risks involved in the task or provide sufficient training for employees acting as banksmen.

It pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

As well as being fined £1m, it was ordered at Manchester Magistrates’ Court to pay prosecution costs of £11,950.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Jane Carroll said: “The company had failed to implement a safe system of work for its delivery and unloading activities, thereby exposing employees and others to the risk of being struck or caught by workplace vehicles.

“Nearly a quarter of all deaths involving workplace transport occur during reversing, most of which can be avoided by taking simple precautions.

“All work settings involving vehicles need to consider the risks arising from their use and implement adequate measures to ensure the safety of those involved in these activities.”