Two contractors fined £28,000 and £48,000 after grandfather crushed to death by heavy machinery

Two companies have been fined after a father-of-three was crushed to death by a machine in east London.

Russell Hartley, 48, was replacing machinery at a recycling plant in Bow ’s Twelvetrees Crescent on February 24, 2020 when he was crushed.

Two contractors in the case - Premier Engineering Projects Ltd and M&M Mobile Crane Hire Ltd - were fined £28,000 and £48,000 respectively over the “entirely avoidable” health and safety failings which led to Mr Hartley’s death.

In a moving tribute to her husband, Mr Hartley’s wife Debbie said he “was everything to us”.

“He was funny and one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. Nothing was ever too much. If it needed doing, he got it done,” she said.

“He was a fantastic father and husband. He worshipped his grandkids and all his family.

“I feel like sometimes I am just waiting for him to come home. I can’t accept that he has gone as I couldn’t say goodbye.

“Nothing prepared me for that moment. I thought he would be here and live on forever. All he ever wanted was to keep his family happy and looked after and I will try to keep that dream alive.”

The Old Bailey heard how Mr Hartley had been hired by Premier Engineering Projects Ltd  to lead a team of four engineers tasked with replacing a Trisomat screen, known colloquially as a ‘flip-flop’.

The flip-flop, a machine that sorts different sizes of waste, was fixed within a metal structure at height in a bay at the plant.

A crane, supplied by M&M Mobile Crane Hire Ltd, was first used to lower the flip-flop from its position at the site.

Mr Hartley, who also had three grandchildren, then took over using a telehandler.

With the flip-flop resting on the telehandler’s forks, the machine began to go further down the bay.

But the flip-flop then became jammed in the bay when Mr Hartley attempted to reverse the telehandler.

As the crane moved towards the telehandler, the flip-flop toppled forwards off the forks and crushed Mr Hartley.

Another worker, who was standing on the flip-flop at the time, was thrown off the machine but escaped serious injury.

The Health and Safety Executive, which brought the prosecution, said the work had not been properly planned, supervised or carried out safely.

HSE inspector Mark Slater said: “Had this work been planned, managed and monitored to a sufficient standard, this incident was entirely avoidable and Mr Hartley’s family would still have him in their lives.

“Risks arising from the lifting and moving of equipment of this size and nature are entirely foreseeable, and work of this nature should be afforded the utmost respect and care.”

House of Commons staff offered X-rays after asbestos rules breached

Nursery group urges parents not to hold door open for anyone after knife attack

Man dies after being pulled from water at ferry terminal

Starmer launches violent disorder programme to clamp down on rioters