Grain storage company fined £180,000 after admitting Health & Safety breach led to the death of an employee in Linton

A grain store company has been fined following the death of the site manager at its site in Linton.

Peterborough Crown Court heard yesterday how on July 27, 2016, Ed Orlopp, 47, suffered fatal injuries after being struck by a lorry at the Camgrain Stores site.

Mr Orlopp, who lived alone in Bury St Edmunds, had left the control room to walk across the site, where he had worked for more than 20 years, and on leaving the building he walked in front of a moving lorry.

The driver had checked his mirrors but he did not see the employee and moved forward fatally injuring the employee.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Camgrain Stores had failed to ensure that pedestrians and vehicles could move safely around the site and that they had not provided measures to prevent employees walking into areas where large vehicles are moving.

Camgrain Stores of London Road, Balsham had pleaded guilty on February 14 to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The company has been fined £180,000 and ordered to pay costs of £20,000.

After the hearing HSE inspector Stephen Faulkner said: “Being struck by vehicles is one of the most common causes of workplace fatal accidents.

“This was a tragic and wholly avoidable incident caused by failure of the host company to undertake a number of simple measures.”

Camgrain Stores Group CEO, Simon Willis, said: "Camgrain has worked closely with the HSE to understand and adopt all possible learning points following the accident and we continue to foster a culture of continuous improvement to make our sites as safe as we can.

"All of us at Camgrain are deeply saddened by the death of Ed, a long-standing colleague and friend. Once again, we would like to express our sincere condolences to his family and friends for their loss."

Camgrain is the UK’s largest farming co-operative, providing storage for wheat and other crops at four sites.