A STEEL company has been fined £62,000 and ordered to pay £38,000 in costs after a catalogue of safety failings led to the death of 42-year-old delivery driver.

Married father-of-three Robert Ismay, of Sowerby, North Yorkshire, was knocked off his lorry and and crushed by a three-tonne load of steel tubes on December 6, 2012.

Sheffield Crown Court heard Mr Ismay, who had been employed by Thirsk-based firm Tomrods to deliver two bundles of 7.5-metre-long tubes to Daver Steels Ltd’s premises in Sheffield in what should have been a straightforward job.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found Mr Ismay parked his lorry on the road opposite the site, but no checks were made by Daver Steels to see what was to be offloaded or how the load was positioned.

The court heard a crane should have been used, but an inexperienced and unsupervised forklift truck driver was told to lift the steel tubes.

The forklift driver did not know the size or the number of tubes he needed to unload and the only communication he had with Mr Ismay was through hand signals.

The forks’ reach was too short so when they were raised, the bundles fell off and hit Mr Ismay.

The HSE investigation found Daver Steels:

* Had not assessed the risks involved with loading and unloading, so had no safe system of work in place

* Did not provided instructions or sufficient training to staff

* Left workers to develop their own practices about what equipment to use and where offloading took place.

The court was told road users were also put at risk when the forklift blocked part of the road during the failed unloading attempt, and that Mr Ismay’s death could have been avoided if simple planning and suitable instructions had been in place to control the risks.

Daver Steels Ltd admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

After the sentencing, HSE inspector Chris Gallagher said: “What happened to Robert Ismay was a tragedy that has had devastating consequences for his wife, children and wider family.

“Daver Steels should have taken responsibility for the driver’s safety and the delivery and unloading operation. Companies that receive deliveries to their premises have a duty to ensure that any unloading operation is carried out in a safe manner.”

Davers Steels were unavailable for comment.