Boss jailed for five years after worker crushed to death
Michael Hall, 66, was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence and guilty of contravening the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
A company boss who repeatedly ignored safety warnings before a worker was crushed to death in a heavy-duty machine has been jailed for five years.
Dad-of-two Andrew Tibbot, 48, suffered catastrophic injuries after getting trapped in the kit, which had been stripped of features designed to protect staff.
He was found by his family, who went to the garden landscaping supplies firm when he didn’t return home.
Michael Hall, 66, was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence and guilty of contravening the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
A trial at Leeds Crown Court heard he was warned about safety issues with the machine which had a robotic arm to move the likes of gravel and stone into bags for shipping.
The alarm was raised again just two months before Mr Tibbot’s death.
The maintenance engineer had been at Deco-Pak Ltd in Hipperholme, West Yorks, for less than six weeks. He was working alone on the day of his death in April 14, 2017.
When the machine was first installed, it had safety features including fencing but this was removed.
A gate was installed but the sensors didn’t work.
Deco-Pak was convicted of corporate manslaughter last year and fined £700,000 and ordered to pay £90,000 costs.
