Lift manufacturer Schindler Ltd has been fined £300,000 for safety failings after an employee was crushed to death while installing a passenger lift at Heathrow Airport.
Lift engineer Kevin Dawson, 45, was helping with the construction of Terminal 5A at London Heathrow when the incident occurred on 27 October 2007.
Isleworth Crown Court heard that Mr Dawson was working from a ladder within the pit of a lift shaft, into which he and other Schindler employees were installing three new lift cars. As a colleague used one of the cars to fetch equipment from a higher level, a counterweight descended, crushing Mr Dawson and causing fatal injuries.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed the unfinished passenger lift was used to carry workers, tools and materials despite missing key safety-critical components.
HSE also found the company's radio and telephone arrangements were ineffective, and workers routinely communicated by shouting up and down the lift shaft. This was potentially confusing while others were working in adjacent shafts. And there was no evidence that Schindler had identified the risk of impact or crushing from moving lift parts, and therefore failed to plan, organise or supervise activity to control and prevent this risk. The HSE investigation concluded that Schindler Ltd ultimately failed its duty of care in allowing unsafe working practices to continue.
The company, of Green Street, Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and Regulation 8(1) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 in relation to the incident
In addition to the £300,000 fine for the three breaches, Schindler Ltd was also ordered to pay £169,970 in costs.
