Family handoutTata Steel has been fined £ 1.5M after a contractor was killed at work at the port talbot plant.
Justin Day slipped into the “Hot Rolling Channel” after being crushed by a large steel beam on 25 September 2019.
From the 44 -year -old family, Lansamlet, Swanasi, he said that he was “shattered” from his death and “disgusting” with the lack of support proposed by the company.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which brought the case, stated that the “long and complex investigation” led the “correct result”.
The court heard that Mr. Day worked for MII Engineering of Bedwa, Carfili, and was on the site at Port Talbot on 25 September 2019.
Nuhu Gobir, the prosecution, during the hearing explained that Mr. Day had finished work in an area that was isolated to make it safe to move around.
After completing the work and signing, he again went out, leaving his radio in a shared area, leaving his before the colleagues told him that he was called through the radio because an oil leak was discovered.
Mr. Day returned to the area in which he was working, which the court had heard that was partially again made “Live”.
As he went across the floor and climbed into a part of the machinery, it activated the sensor and began to shake a large steel beam, crushing Mr. Day.
While sentenced to Swanasi Crown Court, Judge Gerant Walters stated that Mr. Day by all accounts “was well versed in such work” and a proper risk evaluation was done by Tata Steel for initial repair work.
However, the judge stated that Mr. Day “should have been told whether the call was canceled or at a very least contact to tell him that the system was alive to reduce the risk partially”.
After reviewing the CCTV footage of the moments before the death of Mr. Day, Judge Walters said that Justin Day was stepped into the coil tilter machinery because he “knew that men were the men below” and “It was every reason to guess” that he would do so.
“It is clear that he was trying to communicate with them below,” he said, it was not a “careless task” because Mr. Day believed that he was “safe to do so”.
During the hearing, Judge Walters stated that the system in the place was “not adequately followed” and “the company decreased by the appropriate standard”.
Tata Steel’s previous record of 21 crimes of 21 crimes during appearing in 12 courts between 2011 and 2023, and four aggrieved influences of court, Judge Walters said that no one could impose a fine that he could “restore life”.
Describing Mr. Day as a family person, “who has left many of them”, he turned to public gallery and said: “Whatever the fine today I do not finish, he can reduce the pain of people who lose a loved one.
“There is no fine that I can restore life today. None of them is within the gift of the court.”
Tata Steel, who had earlier convicted for two crimes, including failure to ensure the health, safety and failure of a contractor, was fined £ 1.5M and ordered to pay a cost of £ 26,318.67.
Mr. Day’s wife, Zo Day, said that her husband was a “great man”, “honored by all his friends and family”.
He said that he was because of his son meeting him for the local rugby game that day, but on about 15:00 BST he asked his uncle about an accident in steel work.
After “ringing around her friends”, Mrs. Dey came to know that her husband was crushed.
“I didn’t know what to do with himself,” he said, saying that, soon, one of Mr. Day’s friends pulled into a car.
“He just nodded his head and I realized that Justin was killed.”
Mrs. Dey said that the couple, who had been together for 24 years, shared a “beautiful family and a granddaughter”, Mrs. Dey said, described her husband as “just a specific family person, a serious and a soft giant”.
He said it was difficult to close as a family.
“This has completely changed me as a person. I will never be the same person, Zo who was marrying Justin and was happy.
“It’s now almost six years and we just want to shut down, it is very difficult.
“Our life was absolutely shattered and they are still shattered, it is not easy at all.”
Mrs. Dey said that she was “disgusting” with Tata Steel, claiming that the company had “no emotional support or anything or consultation or counseling, not even a letter or phone call”.
He said: “The weight of stories, the weight of memories, a lot of good times, unfortunately they all ended.
“He went to work and he never came home for his family.”
Speaking after the hearing, HSE lead inspector Gethin Jones said he was happy that Tata had convicted the allegations.
He said: “It has been a very high-profile case. A man woke up in the morning, went to work, and never returned home for his family.
“This is a tragedy. The message for us is human cost. At the end of the day, a family lost a dear person, even though legal action today.”
A Tata Steel UK spokesperson said: “We want to express our honest condolences to the bereaved family, friends and workers of Mr. Day.”
