Tyre Disposal Company Fined

Two waste management companies have been fined a total of £140,000 at the Old Bailey. The fine followed a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation into an incident where an employee, Mr Thomas Akwasi Aseidu-Ampofoh was crushed to death under a telescopic reach truck.

The incident took place at Environmental Tyre Disposals Ltd’s (ETD) tyre recycling site at Stonehill Business Park, Edmonton, London on 1 July 2001, where MIDCO Waste Management Ltd (MIDCO) also operates a tyre shredding business. Mr Aseidu who was employed by ETD was instructed to support MIDCO staff in shredding tyres.

The investigation found that both companies failed to take adequate measures to control risks arising from the use of the truck by untrained operators. Environmental Tyre Disposals Ltd of Taplow, Maidenhead, Berks pleaded guilty on 11 November 2004 at City of London Magistrates’ Court and received a fine of £70,000. MIDCO Waste Management Ltd of Hinckley, Leicestershire also pleaded guilty to a charge that it failed to take reasonably practicable precautions to ensure the safety at work of their employees. Midas was also fined £70,000.

ETD and MIDCO were ordered to pay HSE’s costs of £29,982 together with a compensation award of £3,492 to Mr Aseidu’s brother for funeral expenses and a bereavement order made to his widow of £7,500. The maximum penalty in the Crown Court for a single offence of
breaching section 2 or section 3 of Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 is an unlimited fine.

ETD representatives were unavailable for comment.