BIFFA Death In Belfast
Friday 4th February 2011
BIFFA WASTE GUILTY FOR DEATH
AT ANTRIM WASTE DUMP AS GMB INSIST ON PROPER ENFORCEMENT OF HEALTH
& SAFETY LAW AND JAIL FOR
DIRECTORS WHERE PEOPLE
AREKILLED
The family is outraged at the
level of the £60,000 fine and see it as a mere "slap on the wrist"
and a very small price for a large
UKwide company that makes millions for the
life of a husband, son and brother
His Honour Judge Burgess, Recorder of
Belfast found that BIFFA Waste Services Ltd was in breach of health
and safety law which led to the death of GMB member David Layland
aged 23 on 21st August 2008 at the Cottonmount site at Mallusk, Co.
Antrim. The judge fined BIFFA Waste Services Limited the sum of
£60,000 and ordered them to pay £20,000 legal costs.
Mr Layland was killed during the
course of his employment with BIFFA Waste on the company's site at
Mallusk. There was no proper system to separate vehicles from
pedestrians on the site as the law requires. His body was not found
for more than 30 hours after it had been crushed, dismembered and
buried under hundreds of tons of waste. The Health and Safety
Executive said it was impossible to establish how and when Mr
Layland died.
The judge found that the BIFFA Waste
Services Limited was in contravention of Article 4(1) of the Health
and Safety at Work (NI) Order 1978. The company failed as an
employer in their duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare at
work of all their employees and in particular they failed to
provide and maintain systems of work that were safe and without
risks to health contrary to Article 31 of the Health and Safety at
Work (NI) Order 1978. A copy of the guilty plea by BIFFA Waste
Services Limited is attached at the foot of this release as a
pdf.
During the course of the Plea, Gordon
Kerr QC (prosecuting) made reference to two similar convictions of
BIFFA Waste Services Limited in England. In February 2006
they were convicted of a very similar offence in relation to an
employee and were fined £190,000 plus £50,000 costs. Then, in
September 2007, the company was fined the sum of £280,000 plus
£54,000 costs in respect of an incident that resulted in the death
of a member of the public. These fines and costs imposed in this
case are a mere fraction of those imposed in England.
Michael Mulholland, GMB Organiser in
Northern Ireland said, "The family of Mr Layland is
understandably outraged at the level of the fine and so they should
be as the fine is a lot smaller for this death. They see it
as a mere "slap on the wrist" and a very small price for a
large UKwide company that makes
millions for the life of a husband, son and brother. The total
fine and costs in Mr Layland's case is exactly a third of the
penalty imposed in England. It appears that the
cost of a life in Englandis
significantly dearer than it is here in Northern
Ireland. This cannot be justified.
This is the third death
in Northern Irelandin the last
few years in the waste management sector. This is the fifth death
at waste dumps run by BIFFA Waste Services in the last
decade. It is widely known that the waste and
recycling industry are among the dirtiest and most hazardous
industries to work in anywhere in the
UK. As a large company with adequate
resources it is a disgrace that BIFFA do not invest more in decent
health and safety systems and an even greater outrage that a life
can be deemed worth so little.
It is clearly and urgently
that there is a compelling need for companies involved in waste
management and the legislators, including all of the Councils
in Northern Irelandto immediately
review their practices, policies and legislation in light of these
preventable deaths.
GMB endorse the family's call
for the legislation in this area to be looked at and updated to
reflect modern work practices in this sector. GMB is campaigning
for directors to end up in jail to stop preventable deaths and the
prospect of jail would have an impact here. It is high time
that Northern Irelandled the way
on this."
Ends
Contact: Michael
Mulholland, GMB Organiser on 07974 018413 or Eamonn Coy, GMB Senior
Organiser on 07968 109355 or 02890 393340 or GMB Press Office:
Steve Pryle on 07921 289880 or Rose Conroy on 07974 251823.
Copy of the guilty plea by BIFFA
Waste Services Limited