A Cambridgeshire power company has today been ordered to pay £150,735 for their role in an incident which left a man dead after he was struck by a straw bale.

Gary Darnell from Ely, in Cambridgeshire was working as a driver at EPR Ely Ltd's site on the Elean Power Station in Sutton, also in Cambridgeshire on 16 September 2008 when he suffered fatal injuries from a 700kg bale of straw which fell on to him.

Cambridge Magistrates Court heard the 53-year-old received fatal injuries from mechanical asphyxiation when, during an unloading operation, using an overhead gantry crane, the bale of straw fell from a lorry on to Gary.


EPR Ely Ltd of Woodbridge who produce electricity from burning straw at their Elean Power Station was fined £120,000 and ordered to pay costs of £30,735.

The investigation and prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found a number of failings regarding the movement of straw bales around the loading and storage area.

HSE Inspector Gavin Bull said: "Incidents like this are entirely preventable - it is tragic that Gary Darnell lost his life.

"Companies need to make sure that they do not put drivers at risk from unsafe loading procedures. They should have systems of work in place keep drivers or other workers away from places that might be unsafe. If necessary they should use a banksman to assist the driver, or have other equipment such as effective CCTV to make loading operations safe."

(CD/GK)