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Hospital Healthcare Europe

NHS trust in court over crush death

3 December, 2008  

A hospital worker in Essex, UK, was crushed to death after he became trapped under a giant industrial laundry press, a court has heard.

Laundry manager Bayunga Meya, from Ilford, had apparently turned the system off to correct a fault when a colleague, unaware he was there, restarted it.

Seconds later the 47-year-old father-of-three suffered serious chest injuries when he was struck by a heavy metal basket, London’s Southwark Crown Court was told.

Despite quickly being pulled clear by fellow workers and carried to the nearby accident and emergency department at King George’s Hospital, Goodmayes, UK, the production manger died later on December 1, 2005.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospital NHS Trust denies breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act between April 1, 2001 and December 2, 2005.

Richard Matthews, prosecuting, said the trust inherited the laundry machinery when it was formed seven years ago.

It was used “for a very extensive operation”, cleaning 200,000 sheets, pillow cases, towels and gowns from 16 hospitals every week.

He said the defendants “failed to do everything that was reasonably practical to control or reduce the risk” faced by workers using the press.

Copyright Press Association 2008

Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospital NHS Trust