The Kayak manufacturer, Pyranha Mouldings, was convicted of corporate manslaughter earlier this week, following the death of a worker who was trapped in an industrial oven in Cheshire in 2010.
The firm's technical director, who had designed the oven, was also found guilty of offences under the Health and Safety Act.
Facts
- The fatality occurred when a worker crawled inside an oven used to manufacture kayaks to scrape up dripped plastic, and another worker, not realising his colleague was inside, turned on the oven.
- Once switched on, the doors automatically shut and locked to save energy.
- The worker was trapped without means to raise an alarm, and his calls for help also went unheard on the noisy factory floor.
- He tried to escape using a crow bar. But his attempts were in vain.
- The incident was only noticed when smoke started seeping out of the oven door. He suffered severe burns and eventually died of shock.
Safety Failings
An HSE inspector noted that the safety failings included:
- the lack of an escape hatch fitted to the oven
- the fact that there was no clear line of sight from the control panel to the oven door
- the lack of risk assessment and training in how to use the new oven
- the lack of written instructions on cleaning and maintenance of this oven and
- he also mentioned that the automatic closing mechanism of the oven door posed a “high risk” of entrapment to employees.
Sentencing
Sentencing is due to take place next month. As the Sentencing Council is currently consulting on updating sentencing guidelines for regulatory offences, including breaches of health and safety and corporate manslaughter laws, it will be interesting to see whether the outcome of this consultation will be reflected in sentencing of this case.
This is also the sixteenth case to be prosecuted under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act since it came into force in April 2008.
It has been said that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is likely to bring more cases against employers under this legislation in 2015 after an increasing number of prosecutions towards the end of 2014.
