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UK company fined for Indian-origin employee’s death
Nylacast Limited, a British plastic products manufacturing company, has been fined nearly £300,000 (INR 2,70,08,773.38) for breaching safety standards that led to the death of its Indian-origin employee Tarsem Singh
A British plastic products manufacturing company has been fined nearly £300,000 (INR 2,70,08,773.38) for breaching safety standards that led to the death of its Indian-origin employee Tarsem Singh. The Indian-origin man died from a heart attack after sustaining injuries during a 2016 mishap at the company’s plant in Leicester.
Nylacast Limited, which manufactures plastic products for the construction and offshore industries, was fined £293,000 (INR 2, 63, 78, 568.67) and also ordered to pay more than £10,000 (INR 9, 00, 292.45) in costs. It pleaded guilty in the Northampton magistrates court to two breaches of health and safety regulations.
District judge Tim Daber, handing down his sentence, said it “was an accident waiting to happen”. Singh, an experienced machine operator, was hit by a force of up to eight tonnes by a metal-retaining end-cap.
Singh, 52, died of a heart attack the following day in hospital due to his injuries caused by the “blunt force impact” which cracked his chest bone and jaw, knocking out several teeth, reported ‘Leicester Mercury’, a leading local daily.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident found that the company failed to undertake a suitable and sufficient assessment of the long length rod machine in order to ensure that all foreseeable hazards had been identified.
Singh’s family, who were in court, said no amount of fine or compensation could ever replace the loss of a dearly loved father and husband. His 21-year-old son Kuldip said: “I would like to express our great thanks to the paramedics and emergency Dr Matthew Woods who attended on the day of the accident”.
“Without them, my father would have died there and then, but, thanks to their efforts, we were given an extra day with him before he died.”
Nylacast reiterated in its statement its “sincerest condolences” to the family of Singh, adding: “Nylacast has co-operated with the HSE throughout the investigation and has pleaded guilty at the first opportunity to help minimise the impact of the court proceedings with the family members.”
HSE inspector Alex Nayar said: “Those in control of work equipment have a responsibility to undertake a suitably robust assessment in order to ensure that all foreseeable hazards have been identified.”
“Had this hazard been identified, suitable engineering controls could have been devised and implemented to minimise the risk, therefore this death could have been prevented.”
