Garage owner jailed after mechanic is crushed at work

Kenneth McCord was removing parts from a Ford Transit when the ‘wholly avoidable’ incident took place

Garage owner jailed after mechanic is crushed at work
Photo: HSE

A garage owner has been jailed for ten months after a mechanic was crushed by a vehicle he was removing parts from.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how Kenneth (Kenny) McCord was working on a Ford Transit flatbed when the incident at JJ Tyres & Recovery in Bootle, Merseyside took place.

A colleague removed a support arm being used to support the tipper bed, meaning it was supported only by the hydraulic system. When this failed, it crushed Mr McCord, pinning him between the flatbed and the Transit’s chassis.

With the help of another colleague, the garage owner Joseph Jones used a forklift truck to free McCord, who, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), “appeared shaken but was still able to talk and have a drink of water”.

Unfortunately, his condition rapidly deteriorated and an ambulance was called to take Mr McCord to Aintree Hospital, where he underwent surgery but died from his injuries.

Nicola McCall, Mr McCord’s partner of more than 20 years, told the HSE: “I feel like this was a terrible accident that could have so easily been avoided.”

An investigation by the HSE discovered that Joseph Jones had no risk assessments, safe systems of work or lifting plan. Furthermore, his company did not provide staff with adequate training or make them aware of the dangers associated with removing the flatbed from a vehicle.

Damningly, the investigation also found that if the support arm had been in place at the time, the tragic incident would have been avoided.

Mr Jones pleaded guilty to breaching two Sections of the Health & Safety at Work Act and was jailed for ten months.

Lee Hughes, prosecuting, said it has been an “obviously preventable and foreseeable” tragedy, adding: ”This would not have happened if the tipper was suitably supported by a prop while Mr McCord was working underneath.”

Sentencing, Judge David Swinnerton, said: ”The accident and his death were wholly avoidable. The risk was obvious and easily preventable.

”I am sure you regret what that resulted in and if you could turn the clock back you would, but you should have done something about it. This would not have happened.

”I describe it as an amateurish, shambolic backstreet operation. Some people like to refer to regulations as red tape, but this indicates precisely why regulations exist: to stop injury and the loss of life in the workplace.

”No sentence can reflect the value of a life. But I take the view that a message really has to go out that if you run a small backstreet operation you have to follow the rules, regulations and procedures for the safety of your employees.”

As well as the prison sentence, Mr Jones will be liable to pay £40,000 in costs.

Source: Health and Safety Executive

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