Telford father killed by 'terrifying' unguarded machinery due to shocking failings at GKN factory - company fined £1.32m
A Telford father died a week before Christmas having been fatally injured by “terrifying” unguarded machinery due to shocking failings at one of the town’s biggest manufacturers.
Steven Westbrook died after he was called in to perform maintenance on a machine which had been missing a guard for at least two years, Stafford Crown Court heard.
Autostructures UK, formerly known as GKN Autostructures, pleaded guilty to one breach of health and safety regulations.
The company had admitted failing to discharge the employer's general duty owed under Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, specifically "failing to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, that persons in its employment were not exposed to the risk of injury or death by coming into contact with an unguarded flywheel on a Weingarten 1 press".
The court was told of the horrifying and tragic consequences of the breach, which resulted in the death of 47-year-old GKN worker Mr Westbrook, back in 2018.
Mr Westbrook suffered a catastrophic head injury on December 13 and died in hospital days later, on December 17.
Allan Compton, prosecuting, told the court Mr Westbrook, who was an experienced maintenance worker, had been called into the Hadley Castle factory in Telford on the evening of December 13, and had arrived at the site shortly after 8.21pm.
He had been asked to carry out maintenance on a "formidable" 31ft-tall piece of machinery called a Weingarten Press, which had been built in 1968.
The giant machine, which was used to shape flat pieces of metal into panels for the automotive industry, had a huge, 10-tonne spinning flywheel on the top.
Mr Compton explained how the guard to the flywheel had not been in place for "at least two years" despite repeated warnings about its safety risk from staff, union representatives, and a company asked to certify the machine's safety on a six-monthly basis.
The machine was described by workers as "a terrifying sight in close proximity", with another saying: "I remember thinking how horrible it was to be near the flywheel - you could feel the wind off it."
The court was told the platform next to the flywheel was oily, greasy, and poorly lit.
Mr Westbrook had been working on the machine with a colleague, Jack Fletcher, at around 10pm, when he was fatally injured.
Mr Compton said Mr Fletcher could see his colleague on the elevated platform, crouching down and looking at the motor.
He said: "It was then he heard a thud and saw Mr Westbrook had been flung backwards."
The court was told Mr Fletcher could see his colleague had a "severe injury to his head".
Another employee had described seeing Mr Westbrook crouching by the motor with a torch, looking into the machine.
The emergency services were called, with the fire service helping retrieve the stricken Mr Westbrook from the platform.
The court was told firefighters had also noted that the platform was oily.
Mr Westbrook was taken to hospital where he was found to have sustained a traumatic brain injury, with a fractured skull and left shoulder blade.
Despite the efforts of medics Mr Westbook's condition deteriorated and he died on December 17.
Mr Compton said that had the flywheel been guarded then it would not have represented a danger.
He added that there had been a catalogue of failings from the firm which led to the tragedy.
