by Keith Hunt

A major engineering and construction group has been fined £250,000 over the death of a surveyor who was crushed under the wheels of a reversing lorry.

Richard Caddock, from Gillingham, was working on a road widening project near the Bean interchange in April 2008 when the tragedy happened.

A judge said the 38-year-old divorcee’s death could have been avoided if Costain Ltd had implemented simple and inexpensive safety procedures.

"The system left in place was frankly lackadaisical," added Judge David Griffith-Jones QC.

Costain, he said, was a highly respected international group of substance with sales totalling almost £800 million in 2010 and capital in excess of £59 million.

The company admitted failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare of an employee at work. The fine along with £40,000 prosecution costs is to be paid within a month.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Costain, based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, was contracted to carry out a £65 million widening of the M25, adding a carriageway on either side by narrowing the central reservation.

There was insufficient space for lorries to turn and they had to reverse for about 420 metres.

There were no segregated pedestrian walkways and no barriers to separate workers from reversing lorries.

On April 7, a driver employed by West Coast Haulage was reversing with a significant blind spot behind him, said the judge.

The 30-tonne truck was fitted with a beacon and a reversing alarm, but it would have been drowned out by traffic noise.

Mr Caddock had arrived in a van to look for some missing materials. He was talking on his mobile phone to a colleague when the lorry driver failed to see him.

The victim was knocked and crushed between the wheels. He was killed instantly.

"Quite plainly, this tragic accident was avoidable had the basic and sensible precautions been implemented," said Judge Griffith-Jones.

"In my judgement, the risk here of death or serious injury was clear and obvious."

The judge added: "It goes without saying that nothing I say and no sentence I pass is capable of putting the clock back or of remedying the appalling consequences of the defendant’s breach, let alone provide any sort of compensation for the tragic loss of Mr Caddock’s life."