MOD agency driver killed by reversing lorry

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been issued with a Crown Censure after a driver was fatally injured by a reversing vehicle.

The circumstances were:

• On 19 November 2013 Graham Wood, an agency driver working for the MoD, and a colleague were delivering goods to a large holding area in MoD Kineton.
• The MoD failed to assess the risks created by the movement of large vehicles in the area.  
• They failed to ensure a safe system of work was in place to identify and control the risks presented by the movement of large vehicles in this area.
• Mr Wood was crushed between a reversing lorry and a stationary vehicle. 
• Following the incident, a safe system of work including marked parking bays, well defined walkways for pedestrians and a one way system has been introduced.

After delivering the Crown Censure, Jane Lassey, HSE’s deputy director of field operations said:
“The risks arising from vehicle movements are well known and suitable measures required to reduce these risks are understood. Like any other employer, the MoD has a responsibility to reduce dangers to agency workers, as well as their own employees, on their sites as far as they properly can, and in this case they failed Graham Wood. By accepting the Crown Censure, the MoD admitted breaching its duty under Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 in that they exposed their employees and those not directly employed by MoD, to risks to their health, safety and welfare. Those risks manifested themselves in a lack of a safe system of work.