Firm put out of business following safety breach
May 28th 2009
A haulage company found responsible for the death of a member of the public has been put out of business. Scotland’s Traffic Commissioner, Joan Aitken, revoked Munro & Sons (Highland) Ltd’s operating licence and disqualified two directors for seven years, and a former director for two years.
In July 2006 a 30-tonne wheeled loader, which the company was considering buying rolled off the trailer it was being transported on. One person was killed and another injured, when the car they were travelling in was crushed.
Munro & Sons was subsequently fined £3750, which was increased by an Appeal Court judge to £30,000. It was ruled that the original sentencing judge had incorrectly based the first fine principally on Munro’s ability to pay, and not taken account of the gravity of the offence.
It was concluded that inadequate plant, materials and information were available to the driver, who was given no details regarding the weight of the vehicle or the poor quality of the brakes on the loader. There were also an inadequate number of sufficient weight-bearing chains to secure the load.
The company has now been put out of business, following a public inquiry and driver-conduct hearing held at Inverness in March. The Traffic Commissioner disqualified both directors for seven years, along with a former director, Pamela Munro, for two years.
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