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Firm guilty over crane fall deaths
A crane hire company is awaiting sentencing after being found guilty of health and safety breaches that led to the deaths of two workers in a fall when a 118ft crane collapsed.
The accident happened in Durrington, near Worthing, West Sussex, on February 11 2005 as Gary Miles, 37, and Steven Boatman, 45, were dismantling a tower crane used in the construction of a school.
The jury at Chichester Crown Court heard that both men were wearing harnesses and hard hats as they climbed up the crane's jib, 105ft from the ground, to disconnect and coil in the cables used in its pulley system.
Meanwhile, a colleague, Dave Smith, mistakenly loosened the crane's bolts in the wrong order, causing the machinery to collapse. The court heard that Mr Smith was "wholly untrained" in the process and had "no clear understanding" of the risks involved.
As the crane fell, Mr Miles and Mr Boatman were both flung off, landing on the ground. Post mortem examinations found that they died of multiple head and chest injuries. Mr Smith was also injured, but escaped with broken bones.
Aldershot-based crane company Eurolift (Tower Cranes) had pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act in relation to the accident. Its parent company, Gloucester-based WD Bennett Plant & Services, had denied the charges.
A crane hire company is awaiting sentencing after being found guilty of health and safety breaches that led to the deaths of two workers in a fall when a 118ft crane collapsed.
The accident happened in Durrington, near Worthing, West Sussex, on February 11 2005 as Gary Miles, 37, and Steven Boatman, 45, were dismantling a tower crane used in the construction of a school.
The jury at Chichester Crown Court heard that both men were wearing harnesses and hard hats as they climbed up the crane's jib, 105ft from the ground, to disconnect and coil in the cables used in its pulley system.
Meanwhile, a colleague, Dave Smith, mistakenly loosened the crane's bolts in the wrong order, causing the machinery to collapse. The court heard that Mr Smith was "wholly untrained" in the process and had "no clear understanding" of the risks involved.
As the crane fell, Mr Miles and Mr Boatman were both flung off, landing on the ground. Post mortem examinations found that they died of multiple head and chest injuries. Mr Smith was also injured, but escaped with broken bones.
Aldershot-based crane company Eurolift (Tower Cranes) had pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act in relation to the accident. Its parent company, Gloucester-based WD Bennett Plant & Services, had denied the charges.
