Warnings issued over worker safety as Corus receives fine

Posted 14/04/2010

Employers have been reminded that they must do all they can to avoid personal injury in the workplace after an incident in which a multinational was prosecuted.

Steelmaker Corus received a £240,000 fine for breaching safety regulations after a lorry driver was killed on one of its British sites.

The victim, 22-year-old Ross Beddow, had been walking across a factory floor when a three-tonne load of steel fell on top of him from a crane in 2007.

He was killed instantly and Health and Safety Executive inspector Dr Wai-Kin Liu said the incident was an avoidable tragedy.

“Employers must develop a safe way of working that helps to prevent mistakes and reduces the severity of the consequences if they do occur,” he warned.

Corus is Europe’s second-largest producer of steel, creating 20 million tones of the material each year.