August 28th, 2008
A firm has been issued a fine of £400,000 following an accident in which two of its workers lost their lives.
Scottish Coal, which describes itself as the UK’s largest surface coal producer, was issued the fine during a hearing at Ayr sheriff court after pleading guilty to breaching health and safety laws.
The incident occurred in February last year when employees Colin Fergusson and Brian French were killed after their vehicle was crushed by a dumper truck at the company’s site in Dalmellington, East Ayrshire.
The driver of the 100 tonne capacity truck could not see their vehicle because it was in a blind spot.
"These two deaths were entirely preventable and arose from the clear failure of Scottish Coal to provide suitable means of communication between different vehicles on site in order to reduce the risk of collisions," stated Health and Safety Executive inspector Norrie Buchanan.
Tags: Ayrshire, Blind Spot, Buchanan, Coal Producer, Collisions, Dalmellington, Deaths, Dumper Truck, Failure, Fergusson, Health And Safety, Health And Safety Executive, Means Of Communication, Norrie, Safety Laws, Scottish Coal, Sheriff Court, Surface Coal, Tonne Capacity
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July 21st, 2008
One-third of all foreign lorries driving around the UK do not meet British roadworthiness standards, it has been claimed.
According to car insurer LV=, one in every seven lorries on UK roads is from overseas (an increase of 33 per cent since 2001) and is expected to increase by a further 18 per cent in the next five years.
Most of the accidents involving lorries occur on motorways and are often as a result of left-hand drive heavy goods vehicles (HGV) with a blind spot on the right.
John O’Roarke, managing director of the LV= general insurance, commented: "Not only is being involved in an accident with a lorry frightening but it can also be very costly and time consuming, as your insurer may have trouble tracing and communicating with the insurer of the vehicle."
A crash involving several HGVs recently caused "mayhem" on the M1, reports Harborough Mail.
Tags: Accidents, Blind Spot, Car Insurer, Crash, General Insurance, Goods Vehicles, Harborough Mail, Hgv, Hgvs, Insurance, Left Hand Drive, Lorries, M1, Managing Director, Mayhem, Motorways, Next Five Years, Roarke, Time Consuming, Uk Roads
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