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Worker's death leads to fines

Two companies have been fined after a man was killed when he drove a specialist machine into an unprotected pit in a factory floor.

Martin McMenemy, 52, of Grimsby, was working for O. Turner Insulation Ltd., also of Grimsby, on the construction of a food processing plant in Ratby Lane, Leicester, on 12 April 2008.

He was using a scissor lift, an extendable platform, to install wall and ceiling panels when he drove it unwittingly toward and into the shallow uncovered recess. The vehicle overturned and Mr McMenemy was thrown out of it. He died later in hospital of head injuries.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that O. Turner Insulation Ltd. and principal contractor Clegg Food Projects Ltd., of Nottingham, had failed to take simple precautions to cover the hole.

On 24 August, Leicester Crown Court heard that the incident could have been prevented had the hole been covered with a metal plate or cordoned off.

O. Turner Insulation Ltd., of Estate Road No 4, South Humberside Industrial Estate, Grimsby, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 13(2) and 37(6) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and was fined £22,500 with £12,806 costs.

Clegg Food Projects Ltd., of High Pavement, Nottingham, admitted breaching Regulations 22(1)(a) and 37(6) of the same Regulations and was fined £22,500 with £12,674 costs.

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