A construction firm which caused the death of one of its workers
by failing to ensure site safety has been fined £20,000.
Mark Wilkin ended up drowning when he got trapped under a dumper
truck he was driving in December 2007. The dumper had slid off a
temporary roadway into a quarry.
Edward Day, 54, trading as Kent-based firm EJ Construction,
denied breaking the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and other
regulations but a jury found the firm guilty of failing to ensure
the edge of the road was protected.
The firm was prosecuted jointly by Kent Police and the Health
and Safety Executive at Maidstone Crown Court.
Mr Wilkin was working for EJ Construction to extend a section of
land being used as a roadway into a flooded quarry in Salt Lane,
Cliffe.
Melvyn Stancliffe, HSE inspector, said: "Had Mr Day ensured that
the simple measure of providing proper edge protection to the site
roads was in place then the risk of vehicles leaving the road could
have been prevented. This tragic case so sadly illustrates the
hazards that are all too frequently faced by construction
workers."