Company guilty after man burned to death

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A FORMER Warrington company has been found guilty of corporate manslaughter following the tragic death of an employee who was burned to death in an industrial oven.
Pyranha Mouldings Ltd, of Aston Lane South on the Whitehouse Industrial Estate at Runcorn were founded in Latchford in 1971 and operated in Warrington for a number of years before moving to Runcorn.
After a six week trial at Liverpool Crown Court, a jury found the company guilty of corporate manslaughter.
The company was also found guilty of two charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and its managing director, Peter Mackereth, was found guilty of two charges under Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Sentencing has been adjourned to a later date.
The charges related to the death of Alan Caterall (pictured) – a-father-of-three – who died after being burned to death in one of the ovens on the site.
Mr Caterall, aged 54, died two days before Christmas in 2010 following an incident at the premises.
The court was told he was a senior supervisor at the company, which manufacture kayaks and canoes, and had worked there for 12 years.
The boats are made using large industrial rotational moulding ovens. The company had designed the ovens and installed them in the premises in the summer of 2010 with the help of a number of contractors.
In December 2010 Mr Caterall became trapped inside one of the ovens while carrying out cleaning work. The oven had developed a fault with a guide rail bearing and had been shut down for maintenance so that the bearing could be fixed.
When the maintenance work had been completed the oven was switched back on and put into warm-up mode. A few minutes later smoke was seen coming from the oven and, when operators opened the door to find the source of the smoke, they discovered Mr Caterall’s body inside.
Emergency services were called to the premises but, sadly, Mr Caterall was pronounced dead at the scene.
An investigation was launched and Cheshire Police worked alongside officials from the Health and Safety Executive to establish the full circumstances of what happened that day – and a lengthy investigation resulted in charges being brought against the company.
Detective Inspector Gary Smith, who worked on the investigation, said: “Alan’s death was a tragedy. He had worked at Pyranha Mouldings for many years and sadly ended up losing his life at his place of work. Throughout the investigation I have kept in close contact with Alan’s family, who have suffered greatly over the years.
“This has been an extremely difficult process for them and I hope that the successful conclusion today will help to bring about a degree of closure for them.
“This has been a long and complicated investigation spanning many years and has involved painstaking analysis of numerous witness statements, exhibits and other items. The investigation resulted in a charge of corporate manslaughter.
“The guilty verdict by the jury today is the first time in Cheshire that the force has successfully prosecuted a company for corporate manslaughter under the new legislation.”
Martin Heywood, the investigating inspector at the Health and Safety Executive, said: “Alan Caterall tragically lost his life because the way in which maintenance work was carried out on the moulding ovens at the factory was fundamentally unsafe.
“The doors were set to automatically close whenever the electrical supply was switched back on, which meant there was a high risk of someone being trapped inside. There had been no risk assessments and staff had not received suitable training on how to use the new ovens and there were no written instructions on cleaning and maintenance.
“If Pyranha Mouldings and the individual prosecuted over Alan’s death had properly considered the risks to employees when they designed, installed and operated the ovens then he would still be here today.”
Following the verdict Mr Caterall’s family released a statement.
They said: “We are happy with today’s verdict but it does not change the fact that Alan is no longer with us and his family miss him desperately. He has missed his son’s wedding and the birth of his new grandson and he will not see his two daughters marry.
“Alan was a hard-working, conscientious man and he gave Pyranha Mouldings everything. It hurts that they have not admitted any failings in their Health and Safety procedures. We would like to personally thank Cheshire Police and the Health and Safety Executive for all of their hard work in partnership. We would particularly like to thank DI Gary Smith and DC Tracey Short who have been a constant support over the past four years.”


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Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.

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