A kayak manufacturer has been convicted this week with corporate manslaughter, following the death of one of its staff in 2010. Alan Catterall, 54, died after becoming trapped in an industrial oven which he was cleaning.
The prosecution came after a long investigation by Cheshire police into the culpability of the Runcorn company, Pyranha mouldings, who manufacture kayaks and canoes.
The oven had been unused for a period during maintenance work but had been switched on before Catterall was to clean it. Martin Heywood, the investigating inspector at the Health and Safety Executive, who worked alongside the police during the investigation, was quoted as saying that: “The way in which maintenance work was carried out on the moulding ovens at the factory was fundamentally unsafe. The doors were set to automatically close whenever the electrical supply was switched back on, which meant there was a high risk of someone being trapped inside.
“There had been no risk assessments and staff had not received suitable training on how to use the new ovens and there were no written instructions on cleaning and maintenance.
“If Pyranha Mouldings and the individual prosecuted over Alan’s death had properly considered the risks to employees when they designed, installed and operated the ovens then he would still be here today.”
Mr Catterall was a senior supervisor, and had worked at the company for 12 years.
Pyranha Mouldings were charged with two counts under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and with Corporate Manslaughter, under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide act 2007. The relatively new legislation was considered a landmark law, and is employed when a company or organisation display serious failings in health and safety management which lead to a death. It is the corporate body that is charged, but individuals within the company can still be prosecuted under criminal and health and safety laws. The managing director of Pyranha Mouldings was also charged with two counts.
Anthony McCarthy, Director Solicitor of Macks, says: “This is a tragic case where an employee has paid the ultimate price for the failures of his employers. Health and safety is mocked by many in the media but, as this terrible accident shows, it is no laughing matter. It can literally mean the difference between life and death.”
