London company Marble City have been fined £100,000 with £47,564 costs and Directors Gavin and Jamie Waldron were fined £10,000 each after one man was killed and two injured when six tonnes of stone slabs fell while being unloaded (to see the NSS report of the original incident click here).

The fines were imposed by Judge Taylor at Southwark Crown Court last month (April) as the result of a prosecution by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).

The accident happened as a delivery lorry was being unloaded on 20 March 2008.

The court heard that Marble City Director Gavin Waldron was supervising the unloading by employees Ronald Douglas and Franco Moscelli and the driver Gelsomino Pacifico, an Italian national.

The driver had been instructed to park the trailer nearer the yard. This meant the vehicle was on a slope, causing the stone slabs on the trailer to lean towards the kerb.

Mr Pacifico, Mr Moscelli and Mr Douglas got into the trailer to begin unloading the slabs. But the six tonnes of stone slabs had not been restrained. They toppled and fell, crushing Mr Douglas. He died from his injuries in hospital a week later.

Mr Moscelli and Mr Pacifico tried to catch the slabs but became trapped themselves. Mr Moscelli sustained injuries in his right arm, which has led to parasthesia (irritation of nerves in the limb) and Mr Pacifico suffered bruising to his right arm.

Marble City Ltd of Smugglers Way, Wandsworth, pleaded guilty to breaching sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Directors Gavin and Jamie Waldron also each pleaded guilty to two breaches of Section 37 of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by allowing their company to commit breaches of the Act due to their negligence.

The HSE investigation found that Marble City had operated an unsafe system of work for unloading deliveries to the site for several years. Failings included not insisting on deliveries being unloaded on flat level ground and ensuring that the slabs were restrained at all times.

The investigation also found that Gavin Waldron failed to establish Mr Pacifico’s competence or make any effort to brief him on the Marble City unloading operation.

It was company policy only to let competent drivers to be involved with unloading but Mr Pacifico was allowed to carry out the work simply by claiming to have had years of experience.

HSE Inspector, Andrew Verrall-Withers, said: “Too many employers have good intentions but fail to protect their employees as well as they think they are.

“Employers need to check how well they are protecting their employees and not find out they are failing when, tragically, it’s too late and someone is hurt and killed.

“The Defendant’s system of work for unloading slabs of stone was dangerous, but it would have been fairly easy to make it much safer. It is vital that work like this is planned ahead and people do not just react to something when it starts to go wrong.”