Skip firm fined £150,000 after worker was killed

Peter Bialek, 62, of C Bialek Ltd, trading as CB Skips, pleaded guilty to failing to ensure workers’ safety and was sentenced at Salisbury Crown Court on Monday.

The court heard that on February 12, 2008, Jozef Trhan, from Slovakia, was fixing a split rim wheel on a loading shovel when it exploded and he was thrown head first into an excavator loading shovel.

He died in hospital later that day, which was his 33rd birthday, from head injuries.

Mr Trhan had been employed at the waste-sorting yard on London Road to sort through skip rubbish but had become involved in repairing the tyres and wheels of large industrial waste-moving machinery, despite having no training or experience.

The court heard a lack of regular vehicle maintenance and the absence of training had led to a dangerous practice of workers welding the wheel component into place, which they incorrectly thought would improve safety.

The welds failed on the day of Mr Trhan’s death, causing the inner tube to explode.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that C Bialek gave its workers dangerous and unsafe machinery to use and it failed to carry out any risk assessments for tyre repairs.

Recorder Paul Garlick said: “The neglect and lack of supervision was undoubtedly the major contributing factor to the death of Mr Trhan.”

Liam Osborne, the HSE Inspector who investigated the case, said: “C B Skips failed to protect Mr Trhan in a number of ways; essentially, they didn’t know what was going on in their own yard.

“Workplaces using split-rim wheels need to appreciate that if these wheels are not in perfect condition and people are not fully trained in their repair, their workers could be working near a bomb waiting to go off at any moment. It was pure chance that nobody else was near the wheel when it exploded as this incident could have easily led to more deaths and injuries.”

C Bialek Ltd was fined £150,000 and ordered to pay £55,000 costs.