A lift engineer was crushed to death while installing a lift during the construction of Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport.Schindler Ltd was fined £300,000 plus £169,970 towards costs for multiple safety breaches relating to the incident, which took place on 27 October 2007.Isleworth Crown Court heard that Kevin Dawson, 45, was working from a ladder in the pit of a lift shaft to install an emergency stopper. A colleague used the lift car to get equipment from a higher level, but as it went up a counterweight descended, crushing Mr Dawson and killing him.The HSE's investigation found no evidence that Schindler had carried out a risk assessment. The company had failed to put precautions in place to prevent workers from being hit by moving lift components. Inspectors also discovered that radio and telephone arrangements were ineffective, and workers routinely communicated by shouting up and down the lift shaft. This was potentially confusing for others working in adjacent shafts.
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