A company director has been jailed for 12-months, disqualified from being a director for seven years, and ordered to pay £4,000 costs following the death of one of his workers, who was crushed when a mobile elevated work platform fell on him.

The company was also fined £166,000 and ordered to pay £10,400 costs. It is in Administration.

The penalties follow an incident in which father-of-three Paul Williamson, who was 51 years old, died on 29 January 2014. He was crushed when a remote controlled Mobile Elevated Working Platform (MEWP) he was loading on to a truck fell from the ramps on to him.

The director and the company appeared before Manchester Crown Court, which heard heard how Paul Williamson had not been adequately trained on the use of the ramps, the lorry or the MEWP. There was no risk assessment in place and no safe system of work had been created for the equipment, which had only been in operation for eight days.

The gradient of the ramps going up to the lorry were above the manufacturer’s specification and they were not secured to the lorry. As the MEWP, a Spider 1800, was loaded on to the truck it toppled off the ramps on to Paul Williamson.

Company director Kenneth Thelwall of Burleigh Road, Enfield, London, was charged under section 37 of the Health & Safety at Work Act. Thorn Warehousing Ltd was charged under Section 2 of the Health & Safety at Work Act.

HSE Inspector Helen Jones said afterwards: “Kenneth Thewall failed in his duty as a director to protect his workers. He was involved in the day-to-day running of Thorn Warehousing Ltd and should have ensured the company provided Paul Williamson with the right equipment and training to carry out his job. Had he done so Mr Williamson would still be alive today. This case should act as a stark warning to all company directors of their personal responsibility to protect their workers’ health and safety and the tragic consequences when they fail.”