A skip hire company has been ordered to pay a heavy fine following an accident in which a man died when a tyre exploded.
Jozef Trhan, from Slovakia was fixing a split rim wheel on a loading shovel when the incident happened in February 2008. As Mr Trhan was knelt in front of the tyre the welds, which had been holding the sections of tyre together, failed, which caused the inner-tube to rupture. The blast propelled metal components into the air, striking the man on the head and body. The force launched him into the air and his head hit a nearby excavator loading shovel. He died from his injuries the next day.
Mr Trhan’s employer, C Bialek Ltd, based in Salisbury, pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 at Salisbury Crown Court in that they had failed to ensure their worker’s safety in relation to vehicle repair. The court heard that though Mr Trhan was actually employed to sort through rubbish in the skips, he had become involved in tyre repairs and although C Bialek were aware of this, they did not check whether he had any training or experience in this area.
A subsequent Health and Safety Executive investigation into his death found that the company had given their workers unsafe machinery to use but that they had failed to think through the hazards or carry out suitable risk assessments. The company was fined £150,000 plus an additional £55,000 in costs.