Three companies are due to be punished by a judge next month for breaching health and safety law after a man working at Carlisle’s Pirelli tyre factory was badly hurt when a skip fell and landed on him.
In March last year, two firms — Pirelli Tyres Ltd and also International Rubber and Tyres Recycling Ltd (IRTR) — admitted failings following an incident on the city’s Dalston Road site which happened on November 14 2019.
Representatives of both firms had appeared at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court and admitted two health and safety charges as part of a Health and Safety Executive prosecution.
One charge relates to being an employer which failed to ensure that people not in its employment were not exposed to health and safety risks both on and before November 14 2019.
A second charge involves them sharing a workplace with other companies, and failing to work together to ensure that all people working on the site were doing what they should be doing; and that all proper work practices were being followed.
During the magistrates’ court hearing last March, a third company — Tyneside-based DCS Multiserve Ltd — pleaded not guilty to both charges.
DCS was due to stand trial in front of a jury at Carlisle Crown Court this week.
But today, after out-of-court talks between lawyers, a DCS company director pleaded guilty to the second charge of failing to co-operate and co-ordinate with other employers at the site, including Pirelli and IRTR.
This guilty plea was deemed an acceptable resolution of the case by a prosecution barrister.
As with previous admissions made by Pirelli and IRTR, the DCS guilty plea to the second charge had been entered on a formal written basis in which it precisely outlines its failings.
In light of DCS’s change of plea, the judge — Recorder Julian Shaw — adjourned the case.
Along with Burton-on-Trent-based Pirelli Tyres Ltd and Shipley-based IRTR, DCS Multiserve Ltd is due to be sentenced at the crown court on a future date.
A hearing lasting several hours is provisionally set to take place in the week of April 15, and an impact statement submitted on behalf of the injured man is likely to feature.
He was a service engineer tasked with carrying out an inspection in November 2019, but was not employed by any of the three companies brought to court.
An unlimited fine is the maximum punishment at Recorder Shaw’s disposal for such breaches of health and safety act law by the three companies.
