A BUSINESS owner has received an eight month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, following the death of a delivery driver who fell from an unsafe flatbed of an HGV.

Colin Malam of Stanhope Farm, Farnham Road, Odiham and his company Lubrication Management Services (LMS) Ltd pleaded guilty at Winchester Crown Court to health and safety at work offences.

In 2018 Michael Paull fell from the flatbed of an HGV, which had not been risk-assessed and died from his injuries just 10 days later.

Councillor Sara Kinnell, Cabinet member for environmental health, said: “This was a very sad and difficult case and my thoughts go to Mr Paull’s family.

"The standards of health and safety at Lubrication Management Services Limited fell far below the standard expected for a business of this nature.

"This ultimately led to Mr Paull’s untimely death. Michael Paull was a highly regarded member of the Odiham community who took great pride in his service to the community as a retained firefighter for over 40 years.

“We hope that the resolution of this case will give the family the much-needed closure to move forward with their lives. We would like to thank our partners in the Health and Safety Executive, Hampshire Constabulary and South-Central Ambulance Service for their assistance with this case.”

The incident was investigated by Environmental Health Officers who advised LMS that systems were inadequate and Improvement Notices were served in July 2018.

After Improvement Notices were served the company continued to operate an unsafe system of work and legal proceedings commenced in 2019

LMS and Colin Malam pleaded guilty at Winchester Crown Court to:

• Failure to ensure that employees were not exposed to risks to their health and safety whilst working from height on HGVs (on or before January 10, 2018)

• Failure to ensure that employees were not exposed to risks to their health and safety whilst working from height on HGVs (between January 10, 2018 and January 9, 2019)

In addition, LMS was fined £48,000 and costs of £110,000 were awarded to the Council.