Crane firm convicted of corporate manslaughter

摘要

A crane hire company has been fined £700,000 after being found guilty of corporate manslaughter following the death of its employee in 2011. Lindsay Easton, who was employed by Baldwins Crane Hire Ltd as a crane operator, was driving a 16 wheel, 130 tonne crane down an access road to a quarry in Lancashire, when it crashed into an earth bank and fell from the road after failing to negotiate a steep bend. Mr Easton was killed in the collision. Investigations into the crash found it was caused by serious problems with the braking system of the crane, which had not been properly maintained. The crane was fitted with four separate auxiliary braking systems in addition to the ordinary foot-brake. Three of the auxiliary braking systems had been disconnected altogether and the fourth was damaged. There were also serious faults with the main braking system, with no operable brakes at all on seven wheels and faults or excessive wear to the remaining nine.