Hertfordshire contractor JDM Accord has been fined a total of £100,000 by Stafford crown court after a worker was killed during road improvement works.
The prosecution followed a Health and Safety Executive investigation of an incident in which Joseph Jenkinson was run over and killed by a slowly reversing agricultural trailer during road widening work at Wheaton Aston near Stafford on 31 July 2001.

JDM pleaded guilty to two charges of breaching health and safety law by failing to make suitable and sufficient assessment of risks to persons not in its employment.

Following the incident, the HSE issued a reminder to the construction industry of the need to properly control reversing vehicles on sites.

Joy Jones, the HSE's principal construction inspector, said the risk to banksmen, who direct reversing vehicles on site, was well known and had to be properly controlled.

She said: "Banksmen are often used as the only line of protection for pedestrians, instead of proper precautions being implemented to eliminate or reduce reversing and providing visibility aid, such as CCTV and mirrors."

Jones added that there were many elements that contributed to the Staffordshire accident but that the "safe sight, safe vehicle, safe drivers" message had not been acted on.