Price of a life — the price of a car?


Car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover has been sentenced for safety breaches discovered during an investigation into a death of a worker at its Merseyside plant. Its fine was pitiful. 


Liverpool Crown Court heard Graham Begley, 49, from Halewood, was found trapped between two 24 tonne pieces of car making machinery called "dies" on 26 September 2011 at the firm’s factory in Halewood. 


The court was told it is thought the deceased was moving the machinery with a crane when its chain/hook snagged on the die, causing it to move towards him and crushing him. 


As part of its investigation into the incident, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found Jaguar Land Rover had failed in its duty to undertake a suitable risk assessment of the risks to its employees were exposed to in relation to the pre-lift process prior to the lifting of dies. 


Jaguar Land Rover was prosecuted by the HSE over breaches of regulation 3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.


After entering a guilty plea, Jaguar Land Rover was fined £30,000 and agreed to make a contribution towards the HSE’s costs of £20,000. 


The £30,000 fine is almost £3,000 less than the cost of the cheapest Land Rover Discovery Sport model made at Halewood.


http://press.hse.gov.uk/2015/jaguar-land-rover-in-court-over-halewood-death