The brother of a dead factory worker has spoken out after a Bedwas-based company was prosecuted for his death.
Hydro Aluminium Extrusion Ltd, based on the Pantglas Industrial Estate, in Bedwas, was fined a total of £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £13,375 at Durham Crown Court after the Health and Safety Executive decided to prosecute.
The court was told how on the afternoon of November 2 2006, 38-year-old Jens Hinrichs, of Hexham, was working at the firm’s factory in Durham Road, Birtley, near Chester-le-Street.
Mr Hinrichs, who was originally from Germany and was employed as a Project Engineer at the company, was working within a shuttle line that transported finished aluminium products from the packing stations to the banding machine.
At the rear of the four packing stations, a shuttle car ran on rail tracks, picking up finished items.
Mr Hinrichs was working in the enclosure when he was struck by the shuttle car. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
After the case, Zoë Feather, an inspector with the Health and Safety Executive, said: “This incident could have been easily prevented if the company had a suitable system to make sure workers could not gain access into the shuttle line.
“Where work needed to be carried out in the shuttle enclosure, suitable isolation procedures and systems of work should have been in place to prevent dangerous movement of machinery.
“Employers who operate machinery are required to undertake a thorough assessment to identify the risks from machinery and put in place suitable precautions.
“If the company had properly risk assessed the shuttle line and implemented a system to safely enter into the shuttle enclosure this tragic incident would not have happened.”
Hannes Hinrichs, Jens’ brother, was in court for the hearing.
Afterwards he said: “Jens’ death is tragic because he was working on a project to improve safety at the time.
“We hope that this court verdict will help to protect other employees from such horrible accidents.
“As Germans, we are confident in the way the English authorities handled this case.”