A CHORLEY welding firm has been fined £65,000 after a worker was crushed to death in the back of a bin lorry.

Richard Calsen, 25, suffered a heart attack when he was crushed under the tailgate of the vehicle he was working on at John Fowler and Sons, Abbey Mill, Chorley.

Father-to-be Mr Calsen had gone into work on May 17 2014 to do overtime after returning from holiday with his partner Jade Halpin, who was pregnant with their daughter.

He was not due to return to work until the following week but did not want to let his employers down.

Preston Crown Court heard a number of health and safety breaches by John Fowler and Son and Veolia ES Sheffield Ltd, the company which owned the refuse vehicle, let to an unsafe working environment for Mr Calsen.

Veolia ES Sheffield has been ordered to pay £761,981 for its part in the accident which led to Mr Calsen’s death.

The court heard Mr Calsen was welding plates onto the tailgate of the vehicle alongside William Fowler, the son of the business owner.

Mr Fowler went to the cab to raise the tailgate a few inches, but Preston Crown Court heard he turned the control the wrong way and the tailgate started to close.

Hydraulic props, which were supposed to prevent the tailgate from closing fully, had not been secured into place, and a safety limiting switch, which would ensure a one meter gap was left beneath the tailgate, was not working.

Mr Calsen was crushed in the machinery and died at the scene.

Following his death the Health and Safety Executive carried out a full investigation in which it emerged no adequate risk assessment had been undertaken in respect of the work Mr Calsen was carrying out.

Following Mr Calsen’s death a method statement was prepared outlining a number of safety measures which were to be implemented to limit the risks to employees - steps the prosecution said should have been taken earlier.

It also emerged Veolia ES Sheffiled Ltd had failed to carry out routine inspections to its refuse collection vehicles and four other bin lorries in the fleet also had faulty safety limiting switches - although there had been no further incidents as a result.

John Fowler and Son pleaded guilty to an offence under the Health and SAfety at Work Act in that the company failed to protect its employees from risk of death or danger by providing adequate risk assessment.

Veolia ES Sheffield Ltd admitted a similar charge in respect of persons not in the company’s employment in that it failed to carry out adequate inspections to the vehicles, including safety switches.

Recorder Mark Brown, sentencing, said: “Mr Calsen had no way to escape and tragically he was crushed between the tailgate and the vehicle.

“He was only 25-years-old and was killed unnecessarily.

“This case in my view is a fatal accident which should never have happened.

“There is no doubt that Mr Calsen’s death at a relatively young age has had a devastating effect upon his family.

“His partner Jade Halpin describes him as a funny, charming, charismatic person. They were planning their future together. They were looking forward to having their daughter and were planning to get married.

“The irony is that Mr Calsen was not supposed to be in work that day and only went in as a favour to his employers.”

In a victim impact statement, Mr Calsen’s mum Lynn, said there were no words to express the distress, pain and heartbreak suffered by the family as a result of Richard’s death.