Death at Work Spotlight

Rubbish - it's everybody's business. It's big business. And it can be a

very dangerous business. It cost one worker here his life.

You don't expect somebody to go to work and be killed. David's death

was probably completely needless. It was tragic. It simply was a

death that shouldn't have happened. I will never know what happened in

those last few minutes and it will be with me for the rest of my life.

This is the story of David Layland. He was a worker here for Biffa -

the company that run this massive rubbish landfill on the outskirts

of Belfast. His job was to help deal with the waste we throw away.

Tonight on Spotlight, we investigate the failings

surrounding his death and hear concerns that waste deals made on

behalf of our councils could be putting workers' safety at risk.

believe there was a culture of haste. The volume of traffic was

quite heavy. Performance-related clauses tend to put pressure on

people. Or they incentivise people to do that little bit more, to go

that little bit quicker You are now husband and wife. This

is David's wedding. He and his bride Carol, starting out on a

happy life together. Only weeks after they were married,

his new wife would go to his funeral. But at the time, his older

brother Ken says they were looking to a bright future. He was looking

forward to having his first children. And the Christmas that he

got married, I think that's what their plans were. They would start

talking about names and, you know... He was very much a family man.

He'd been working hard, putting in the overtime to save for the

couple's dream honeymoon. It was something his parents knew he

dearly wanted. He was a big hunk of chunk. He was just a great big

beautiful boy. A solid trustworthy young man. He was just gorgeous,

you know. He was just such a little prankster and he was just so funny.

He got on well with people. He loved his family. He worked hard.

He does that all the qualities that any father would love to have been

his son. -- In his son. David shared that sense of humour

with his workmates at Biffa's Mallusk site. But they also knew

his serious side. His concern for safe working had earned him an

award from company bosses in 2006. He was the site's health and safety

officer, and had also become Site Supervisor. He wanted to work the

whole way up to management level. He saw flaws and things that were

going on in the site. And he was so proud of himself, you know, with

the health and safety and putting everything in place.

But his family say that in the weeks before his death, David had

begun to worry about safety at the site. He confided to his father

that he was thinking of leaving. know he was concerned with

machinery and people mixing. I know he was concerned about being able

to be in contact better and to be able to monitor the flow of traffic

better. David's family claim that he passed

those concerns up to management, but that nothing was done about his

worries. That's something Biffa denies. It told us it had no record

Managing landfill waste is dangerous. It's a terrain of

mountains of rubbish dotted with bulldozers and compactors. Vast

amounts of waste are heaved and flattened by these massive machines.

David would have known the risks that came with his work. John Dyne

is a lawyer who has represented companies in the landfill

industries. He also sits on a number of trade associations. He

hasn't represented Biffa. If you get clipped by a large machine, you

are unlikely to get up again. It's not like being tapped by a car.

These machines are heavy and unyielding and if you make contact

with them, it's extremely serious. You are either going to be killed

or suffer severe injury. So the risk is enormous.

Tea time on a summer evening in August 2008. David had been at work

all day, moving between his office and the landfill face. He had last

been seen at lunch time, chatting to a colleague near the tipping

area. And though one worker had asked where he was shortly after

that, his workmates only realised he was missing when it was time to

go home. One of David's colleagues made the call to his brother Ken.

knew straight away. If David had have had any problem or walked out

of work, I would've been the first one to know about it. I drove

straight back, phoned my mate to run round to David's house to bang

on the doors and windows to see if he was in.

By the time he got to the site, David's workmates had found his

shoes and clothes still in his locker. David's family and friends

began to arrive and immediately started to search for him at the

tipping zone. Neither of the landfill's senior managers was on

the site. My heart sank as soon as I seen it. You know the smell of

excrement, of rotten flesh, it was... Restaurant waste and it was,

it was horrible. It was a horrible place to be.

As the light began to fade, they searched over the newly buried

waste. David's mother was wearing only flip-flops, and had even found

herself close to the site's cliff edge. I just had a deep dread that

something was really wrong, because David was so responsible. He would

never have gone missing. And there was just something... Something

really wrong. I could hear voices shouting, you know, for David. I

prayed and prayed that he had slipped and fell and I could find

him beside a concrete... Something, anything. And

Even into the next day, they were still searching. The emergency

services had brought specialist equipment on-site at around

At last, some organisations started to come into the site, because

nobody knew what to do. I kept praying that if he was under the

ground, there would be an air pocket, anything, he would still be

there, but it was getting cold. And I thought how can we go home and

him still be there? So why had the alarm not been

raised earlier on the day David went missing? David Layland hadn't

been seen since lunchtime. Some workers had asked where he was, but

no call out was made to check for him. They just hadn't realised he

was missing. It's since been discovered that

Biffa didn't have a system to do a headcount or monitor people's

whereabouts on the job. The man who headed up an

investigation by the Health and Safety Executive into David's death

told a recent inquest that that should have been in place.

importance of making sure that those people are accounted for is

that with the large vehicles, it is always possible that something can

happen, an emergency procedure head count, etc, that should all be in

place to monitor where people are added make sure nothing has

happened to anybody. -- and to make sure.

sure. Biffa told us that it "had never

previously had a missing person on any of its sites" and "the company

does not accept that missing persons presented a foreseeable

risk for which an emergency procedure ought to have been

Because no-one realised he was missing, operations at the site

weren't stopped. That meant workers kept dumping and compacting rubbish.

For the family, that lack of an emergency plan made finding David

In my heart, I knew something terrible had happened. But in my

head, I knew that I was the only person on that site that was going

to be able to do anything proactive. There was a complete lack of

management on that site. It was so evident there was not a procedure

put in place. Certainly, on the ground, nobody was aware of what

steps to take whenever it emerged that somebody was mising. There was

a delay here in actually getting to the stage where he was declared

missing. There were last sightings and then there was a period of time

passed. But it was conceded at the inquest that really nobody was

fully aware of exactly what to do. With the search into its second day,

emergency teams continued to scour the huge site. At 8pm, nearly 30

hours after he'd last been seen, a police officer gathered the family

together and broke the news. David's body had been found buried

under tonnes of compacted waste. was just cries and screams. And

amongst all of them, one of them was mine but... I knew it was going

to happen but, when you hear those words, your life just collapses.

And it still feels the same way. His body was found in the landfill,

70 metres from where he'd last been seen that day. He had suffered

horrific injuries. They wanted somebody who would come and

identified David's body and I said, I will, it is my child, I gave

birth to him and I want to see that it is David. I didn't care what I

was going to see. I had to go up and see it, I had to. And if I had

to get into a hole and picked by child up, I would have done. But I

wasn't allowed. David's family had to try and come

to terms with the knowledge that he was dead. What made it even more

difficult was that no-one could tell what had caused it. The site

was sealed, as police and investigators tried to find clues

as to what had happened. He couldn't operate. -- I couldn't

operate. I couldn't drive, couldn't think, couldn't sleep. When I

closed my eyes, I would see my brother being run over by machinery.

Last year, Biffa was convicted for breaking a health and safety law

but wasn't found responsible for causing David's death. Exactly how

he died has never been established. The judge said the dangers on the

site were both office and recognised and there was a

substantial failure on the part of up Biffa's health and safety

measures. So what Biffa did in theory it was different to what

went on in practice. They had a very good policies and procedures

and you would expect, with a bit well run company like that, that

this sort of issue that the rows on the ground would have been better

managed. So it did come as a surprise that things were in such a

Biffa pleaded guilty in for not maintaining a safe place of work on

the day that David's died. The court heard that David's there

could not be attributed to anything specific. Because nobody knows how

David died, it is difficult to ascertain which one of the

deficiencies caused his death. John Dayne says companies have to be

robust in making sure that procedures are adhered to. What's

it brings home is that you can have all the systems in the world, but

you have to police them and make sure people followed the procedures

and the cycles. As likely explanation for David Layland's

death was that he was hit by a large vehicle. Industry experts

agree this is a key raw that. Potentially fatal accident before

they happen. What I'd would say is that the movement of vehicles and

the management of Transport are probably the most important single

factor. What makes it so Tup is that due to the constant dumping,

the shape of the ground is always changing. Then there is the traffic.

On the day of the accident, 130 lorries went through the gates over

10 hours at the Mallusk site. That is the equivalent of one every five

minutes. Then, as now, they still holds the contract for 11 councils

around Belfast. In that contract they can be fined for taking too

long to get off the site. Clauses such as this are widely used in the

industry, but concern has been raised about the potential effects

it could have. The volume of traffic was heavy. Any occasion I

have been that there had been accused of vehicles waiting to

enter and exit the site. These concerns have never been directly

linked to David's death, but the TV investigator says they are a bad

idea for the industry. difficulty that would give rise to

his if there is any slowing down in the system, drivers could have the

perception that it is worth taking increased risks. People operating

the sight could think it would be worth taking increased risks.

Biffa says it does not accept that and turnaround clauses are standard.

At the site, lorries would roll in and pass over a bridge. They would

go down to a Horn Road and be held in a queue of traffic lights. When

the traffic light sago, they move into position and NT their lorries

before driving off again. But on the day David died, that traffic

lights were not working. These - and this was one of the biggest

failings levelled against the company. My opinion is the traffic

lights were the linchpin. The purpose of them is to hold the

lorries on the boat and not let them on to the Tipping face. Biffa

accepts that the lights were broken, but say they are not necessary to

facilitate the safe movement of traffic on site of this nature. It

also said traffic lights are not normally used on land foresight and

visitors have to the site are understood to follow and signals

which are standard practice. Standards -- standard practice or

not, there were traffic lights at the Mallusk site. Having no

contingency for them breaking down is unacceptable. I don't understand

why a reserved set of traffic lights could not have been held on

that site, given their importance. The inquest heard that the light

had been broken for several days. With the light out of action,

workers on the site had to use hand signals and eye-contact. They do

that from inside their own bulldozers. The there is nothing

intrinsically wrong in using hand signals, provided the drivers of

all the vehicles who are affected by the hand signals understand what

they mean. Obviously, a bread light means stop and a green light means

go. -- a red light. That system is fraught with complications. Biffa's

position remains that hand signals are a safe way of working and staff

are trained accordingly. It is the back-up system in and has been

standard practice for many years. Biffa sake that traffic lights are

no longer used at the Mallusk site and the they had been replaced by a

two-way radios. There were designated safe areas where people

and machines were kept separated. On the date David died, a safe zone

is where he was last seen. They inquest heard that workers were

taking short cuts across the site they should not have been using.

They have got designated pathways and the workers who were supposed

to be using them rather than taking short cuts should have been

controlled, monitored and if needs be, disciplined because ultimately,

it is human nature to take a short cut, but it is all about the

culture and ethos of the organisation. Things are done for a

reason and if the workers are not using those pop ways then that is a

serious matter. A lack of both enforcement and a simple

alternative was another basic flaw in the way the site was working

that day. There were not robust systems in place to monitor how

people were going around the workplace. They should not have

walked. They should have been taken around in a jeep. The HSE said BG

that was usually used was offside on the day of David's death.

Workers were walking across the site and taking routes that came

close to active tipping areas. Company macro -- Biffa responded by

More than three years after David's death it is still uncertain how he

came to die that day. Despite finding flaws in Biffa's system,

the Health and Safety Commission -- Health and Safety Executive did not

request any changes to be made. failings were serious. Essentially

the land full operation is a transport operation. The failings

were serious because the control measures needed was so simple.

Biffa says it has made positive changes at the Mallusk site,

including head counts, CCTV and more attention to traffic

management. So how dangerous is it a working waist? In terms of being

struck by a vehicle, or waste- management is a risky category of

work. The HSE say over the last five years one in at 700 workers in

that category of has been injured. Jun macro says the safety record of

the waste industry should be seen in perspective. Compared to other

industries such as construction and agriculture, I would suggest the

record is quite good, but that is relative. Biffa has been convicted

five times and the last decade up to press on its sites across the UK.

In total it has been fined over half-a-million pounds. David's

father said the �60,000 Biffa was fined after the death of his son

was not even enough. That is not even a slap on the breast. How

trivial is a person's life? find was one of the largest imposed

for a health and safety breach. Finds in England for similar

offences can be bigger and that is something that concerns the Union

David was part of. It made me wonder is the value of a life in

Northern Ireland any less than that other life in the UK? A do you

think it would focus companies' minds a little more if fines were

may be higher? I think it would. There is no doubt about that. The

only thing I would say it is the ability to pay. But if the fines

were on a parity with those in the UK, it would make a difference.

Earlier this month, David's father bought his concerns to the

Environmental Health Committee at Belfast City Council. It seems to

be a purely financial matter. The council are trying to save as much

money as they can and to be honest, I don't think they take into

consideration the health and safety aspect and the effect it has on

people. Despite the death of David Layland, the Arc21 house awarded a

fresh contract to Biffa to process the waist. Belfast City Council say

they received assurances from Arc21 that health and safety issues have

been taken into account. Arc21 is the consortium of 11 councils in

the Belfast area under which Biffa operates its landfill site at

Ian John Dayne's experience, things need to change. People who supply

services do not want to have prosecutions or any form of a mark

against their reputation of character because it is not good

for business. Its ability to tender for contracts, local authorities

and so forth, this is not great news from a commercial point of

view. I am sorry to look at the commerciality side, but

fundamentally, any prosecution scores against you. In the tender

competition last year, Biffa came a with the lowest price for the Arc21

group. For Biffa, the contract will be worth �5.4 million. But the new

contract still contains a turnaround clause. Went Derek

visited the council he said he was warmly received, but his message

was clear. I said to them about their part in issuing tenders. Stop

looking at how much a money you can save by going for company a instead

of company B. If you do go for the cheaper one, look at their health

and safety record. Arc21 says the 30 minute turnaround clause is not

unusual and it typically takes a contract to 16 minutes to way and

NT the waist. Biffa does not think there is a problem either, same

turnaround times were not considered to be a safety issue.

But the industry lawyer says such clauses can produce unsafe habits.

Certainly I would frown against any performance related clauses because

they do then tend to put pressure, I did they put pressure on people

what incentive eyes people to do more to get quicker and possibly to

bend the rules to get the job done picker. I don't like them

personally, but I can't sit here acrid to seize them because the

feedback I am getting from my clients are they do not see that as

a particular issue will problem for The likely it -- the likelihood is

I will go to my grave not knowing what happened to David. This is the

closest I can get to him. Biffa describe David as a well-liked and

fallible member of the team and gays sincere condolences to his

family. What Ken and the families say they want to hear is an apology

for the failures in its systems when David died. Whenever you smile

with your kids, there is a massive pain because you think of David. I

have not something I can never get back. We cannot get beyond it. It

has completely destroyed us. We cannot move on. How can we ever

have moved on? The pain of losing David will never leave his family

and the waste industry here it faces questions of its own. Clearly