Russell Hartley, from Sheffield, died when machinery was being moved by a crane and a telehandler at a recycling facility in February 2020.
At the Old Bailey, Premier Engineering Projects pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £28,000, while M&M Mobile Crane Hire was fined £48,000 after pleading guilty to the same offence. The machine sorts different sizes of waste and was fixed within a metal structure at height in a bay at the site.Mr Hartley then took over using a telehandler. With the flip-flop resting on the telehandler’s forks, the machine began to go further down the bay.As the crane moved towards the telehandler to lift the machine, the flip-flop toppled forwards off the forks and crushed Mr Hartley.
“I feel like sometimes I am just waiting for him to come home. I can’t accept that he has gone as I couldn’t say goodbye.