Lee Horton, 58, and Daron Pickstock, 43, were killed when an industrial warehouse racking system collapsed as it was being tested at Castefields Industrial Estate in Bingley on 29 October 2020.
The racking was being tested at a site belonging to Space Productiv Ltd, of which Horton, from Ilkley, was the managing director. Pickstock, who was from Chorley, was self-employed and working for a company called Collins Site Services.
The racking system was being loaded with test weights of up to two tonnes, when the structure began to collapse. The two men had been working from a mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) next to the racking structure as it was being loaded.
As the structure collapsed, it struck the MEWP, causing it to overturn while both men were inside. Horton and Pickstock sustained fatal injuries and died shortly afterwards.
An HSE investigation found that both companies failed to adequately assess the risks arising from the work being undertaken and failed to put in place a safe system of work to ensure the health and safety of those involved.
HSE found that the planned and implemented systems of work were unsafe. Workers were positioned within the collapse zone of the racking during testing, placing them at serious risk should the structure fail.
Space Productiv Ltd pleaded guilty to safety breaches and was fined £97,500 and ordered to pay £17,377 in costs at Leeds Crown Court yesterday.
Collins Site Services Ltd also pleaded guilty to safety breaches and was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay £10,292 in costs.
HSE Inspector Mark Slater said: “Where risks cannot be eliminated, it is vital that workers are kept out of danger zones to reduce the risk of serious injury or death.
“In this case, inadequate planning and unsafe systems of work exposed workers to an unacceptable level of risk. This was a wholly avoidable incident.”