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FIRM FINED £325,000 OVER DEATH

From the Echo, first published Thursday 8th Jul 2004.

A LAUNDRY company was fined £325,000 on Wednesday for failing to ensure the safety of a young employee who died after being trapped in a giant washing machine for almost three hours.

Paul Clegg collapsed after climbing into the 30-metre-long stainless steel industrial drum at Sunlight Textile Services in Bournemouth to untangle washing on March 21 last year.

It was more than an hour before firefighters were called to cut through the corkscrew-shaped drum, unaware that Mr Clegg, of Swansbury Drive, Bournemouth, was lying in a chamber close to an escape hatch. The 23-year-old died from heat exhaustion.

Prosecuting at Bournemouth Crown Court, Mark Balysz said crawling through the machine "was not an unusual occurrence" at the Winton laundry, part of the Sunlight Service Group which has 56 depots throughout the UK and about 8,000 employees.

Mr Balysz said it was "pitch black" inside the washing machine with temperatures of up to 70 degrees centigrade.

"It was not rocket science to work out this was a very dangerous procedure.

"The temperature was not measured to make sure it was safe. They should have opened the access hatch before anyone entered the machine.

"The company didn't know of the existence of the hatch, there was no rescue equipment, no practice drills for rescues, no monitoring of time spent in the machine and insufficient means of commun-ication."

He said safety guidance sent to the company by the machine's manufacturers and the Textile Services Association had "not been considered in detail and maybe never even read".

Mr Balysz described the company's health and safety record as "poor," recalling how they had previously been fined £59,000 for breaching legislation.

Defending, Simon King said: "When deficiencies become apparent the company put its hands up.

"There is nothing they can do to bring Mr Clegg back and there is enormous regret for what happened."

Fining the Sunlight Service Group £325,000 - one of the south's largest fines for workplace death - and ordering them to pay £16,665 costs, Judge Roger Jarvis said he was satisified the accident had not been caused by "a cost-cutting exercise to enhance profit.

"It did, however, arise out of serious corporate failings from a very senior level right down to those in charge at the time of the accident," he said.

"There was an overall assessment nearly a full year before advising of the need for a risk assessment on the operation of this very machine. Nothing had been done.

"It is the duty of management to effectively address these issues in a timely fashion. Although this procedure had gone on for some time, without mishap, given the heat and confined working space the risks were obviously high and the potential dangers considerable.

"Of course there is public disquiet at the unnecessary loss of life. The penalty needs to bring home, not only to directors but to shareholders, the need to achieve a safe environment in the workplace."

Mr Clegg's mother Sue said: "The fine is nothing compared to Paul's life. It doesn't bring him back. We have lost a wonderful son. It must never happen again.

"Paul was told to go into that machine - he wouldn't have volunteered. We've received no compensation from the company. We have suffered for more than a year and have had to relive what happened to Paul during his inquest and court hearings.

"We are still very angry because no one from the company told us what had happened to our son.

"I would have wanted to be there during the rescue operation but I was not given that chance. Knowing the terrible way Paul died will haunt us for the rest of our lives."

Health and Safety Executive Inspector Jon Halewood said: "The fine is appropriate for the level of distress that has been caused to Paul's family.

"It needs to be that size to have impact and send out a clear message to industry at large."

Sunlight Service Group director, Martin Roberts, said: "Our procedures have been fully reviewed and altered to prevent any reoccurrence of a similar incident."

First published: July 8

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