Companies fined over Birmingham worker crushed to death

Tawanda Chamwandayita died at the Wallsall Road site in October 2017

Two firms have been fined and a company director handed a suspended prison sentence over the death of a worker crushed by falling panes of glass.

Tawanda Chamwandayita was killed unloading materials from a shipping container in Birmingham in 2017.

Leyton Homes (Perry Barr) Limited and its managing director Jalal Rana were both found guilty of breaching health and safety regulations.

Evergreen Construction (UK) Limited was also convicted of the same offences.

Rana, of Walsall Road, Birmingham, was sentenced on 20 January at Birmingham Crown Court to nine months in prison suspended for two years and ordered to pay £57,000 in costs.

Mr Chamwandayita was knocked off the rear of a lorry at the Walsall Road site on 26 October 2017 when glass fell against his leg.

About 17 glass panes then fell on top of the 37-year-old from Edgbaston.

'Wholly preventable'

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and West Midlands Police found the unloading was not property planned, supervised or carried out safely.

Inexperienced and vulnerable workers, some of them just 17-years-old, were working in dangerous conditions with no supervision, inadequate equipment, and without any planning or risk assessment in place, the court heard.

Evergreen Construction, the principal contractor, had failed to take action to ensure the safety of the workers.

Layton Homes - previously known as Hilux Developments Birmingham Ltd and Fast Item Residential Limited - had engaged their own contractor but failed to ensure work was carried out safely.

Rana was on site but did nothing to ensure systems were in place to protect the workers, said the HSE.

• Evergreen Construction, of Folwer Road, Essex, was fined £150,000 and ordered to pay £52,500 in costs

• Leyton Hones, of Walsall Road, Birmingham, was fined £100,000 and incurred £55,000 in costs

HSE inspector Edward Fryer said the death was "wholly preventable"

"This case highlights the importance of engaging competent contractors and making sure that roles and responsibilities are clearly defined."