Farmer fined £16k after worker dies in fall

Mark Young, who was 64, died after falling off a forklift truck at Moss Hall Farm in Tarporley on 1 February 2021.

Sentencing took place on 11 October 2024 at Chester Crown Court, with a combined £16,000 in fines issued following a six-week trial.

Denis Thornhill of Eaton Lane, Cheshire, was cleared of manslaughter but found guilty of breaching Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, by virtue of 37(1) of the Act and was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,000.

Meanwhile, Thornhill's company D.S. Thornhill (Rushton) Limited of Moss Hall Farm, Cheshire, was found guilty of breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,000.

Investigation findings

During the trial the court heard that on 29 February 2021, Young, who worked as a roofer, had been asked to make repairs to a roof panel and fix a blocked gutter on the same building.

While walking across the roof, he damaged a second roof panel so a replacement was purchased and he was asked to carry out the additional repair work.

Young returned to the farm on 1 February 2021 with his three sons and was raised up while sat inside a potato box that was balanced on the forks of a forklift truck supplied by Thornhill.

When lifted to around 16 feet, Young moved to one side of the potato box and caused it to overbalance. He fell to the floor sustaining serious head injuries, and although paramedics were called, they were unable to resuscitate him and he was pronounced deceased at the scene.

A joint investigation by Cheshire Constabulary and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that on the day of the incident there was no safe system of work implemented for working at height and unsuitable equipment was used.

The potato box did not have the necessary safety features for a non-integrated work platform and had not been secured properly.

Additionally, the forklift truck had not been subjected to a thorough examination and was unsuitable for lifting people, while Thornhill was not formally trained in operating it.

Enforcement action was taken and a Prohibition Notice was served on the company prohibiting further work until a safe system was devised.

‘Incident could have been avoided’

HSE inspector Ian Betley commented after the hearing: “This was a tragic incident that could so easily have been avoided.​

“The forklift truck and potato box were the wrong pieces of equipment for the job and never a suitable platform for working at height. The work should instead have been carried out using a tower scaffold, scissor lift, or a cherry picker.​

“In bringing the forklift truck and potato box and using it to lift Mark at height, the company was in control of the work but had failed to implement proper planning and safe execution of it.​

“All companies have a legal duty to ensure the safety of workers they employ or who carry out work for them. If that had happened in this case, then Mark’s life wouldn’t have been lost.”​

In other news, BrewDog was forced to throw away ‘millions of pounds’ of ‘infected’ beer in recent months after a quality issue led to customer complaints.​​