A grocery wholesaler has been fined £1m after a worker was killed by a reversing truck in 2019.

53-year-old Lee Warburton, a father of three from Stockport, was killed during a delivery in Manchester - he was directing his colleague who was reversing a HGV.

Mr Warburton became trapped as he attempted to guide the vehicle, and was left with fatal crush injuries.

Wholesaler Bestway Northern Limited, who Mr Warburton was working for at the time, has been fined £1m after it was found they'd failed to implement a safe system of work for vehicle movements.

The Health and Safety Executive - which carried out the investigation - also found that the wholesaler had failed to adequately assess the risks involved in the task or provide sufficient training for employees acting as banksmen.

(Image via Health and Safety Executive)

Lee Warburton's partner, Hayley Tomlinson, described the day he died as the worst of her life. "To be taken in such a cruel manner made it even harder," she said.

"Knowing the pain and fear Lee must have gone through was unbearable. But nothing compares to the moment I had to tell our children their daddy was never coming home."

After a hearing at Manchester Magistrate's Court on 18 July, Health and Safety Executive inspector Jane Carroll said: "The company had failed to implement a safe system of work for its delivery and unloading activities, thereby exposing employees and others to the risk of being struck or caught by workplace vehicles.

"Nearly a quarter of all deaths involving workplace transport occur during reversing, most of which can be avoided by taking simple precautions.

"All work settings involving vehicles need to consider the risks arising from their use and implement adequate measures to ensure the safety of those involved in these activities."

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