A MAINTENANCE engineer was crushed to death by a robotic arm in a “wholly avoidable” incident at a garden landscaping supplies firm, a jury heard today.

Andrew Tibbott, 48, was found by his son at Deco-Pak Limited on the evening of Good Friday, 2017, after the arm had pinned him to a conveyor belt.

Deco-Pak Limited, of Deco House on Halifax Road, Hipperholme, near Brighouse, denies the corporate manslaughter of Mr Tibbott, 48.

Company directors, Rodney Slater, 62, of Wellbank View, Rochdale, and Michael Hall, 64, of Hullen Edge Lane, Elland, plead not guilty to Mr Tibbott’s manslaughter by gross negligence.

The jury at Bradford Crown Court has been told that Deco-Pak and Hall have admitted failing to ensure that employees were not exposed to risk. Slater denies that charge.

Prosecutor Allan Compton QC said that Mr Tibbott had been working for the company for six weeks when he was fatally crushed by the lifting arm of an RM machine.

He was one of the last employees in the factory that day and was discovered by his son at 8.15pm when he didn’t arrive home.

Mr Compton alleged that Mr Tibbott’s death was “wholly avoidable” and arose from systemic health and safety failure at Deco-Pak.

The robotic arm was a “powerful and dangerous piece of machinery” that had safety fencing removed and safety features bypassed or disabled, he said.

Mr Compton alleged there was a culture among senior management of “production at all cost.”

Mr Tibbott entered the robotic cell of the machine at 3.40pm by the “red gate” and where a section of fencing had been removed. When he had cleaned a sensor, the robotic arm swung into action, caught him and pinned him to a conveyor. Paramedics were called but he had died at the scene, the jury heard.

Mr Compton said Deco-Pak had a large yard with hoppers and a warehouse where a number of machines with robotic arms were in use. The company packed stone, slate and gravel into small grip-seal bags for onward sale.

The machine that struck Mr Tibbott was part of the largest bagging line in the building.

The court heard that Hall was managing director at Deco-Pak and Slater joined in September 2014 as general manager on a salary of £50,000 a year. He was appointed a director in 2016.

It was Slater’s role to maintain and develop health and safety at the company, Mr Compton stated.

The jury were shown photographs of the company’s premises and the RM machine.

The robotic arm could move at the rate of seven metres a second, Mr Compton said.

He said the £270,000 machine was installed in April 2015. The purchase included training for staff because of the “inherent dangers of using a robotic arm.”

The machine was equipped with safety fencing, light barriers and interlock gates. When it was installed, the security features were tested and all working, Mr Compton said.

He said there was a red triangle hazard warning in the instruction manual not to tamper with the safety features.

Mr Compton said in mid-2015 an electrical engineer was struck and injured at the company by a robotic arm. He was cut to the chest by the claws of the arm and suffered a broken nose and a black eye.

He left Deco-Pak, describing the working conditions as “lethal,” the jury heard.

On July 29, 2015, another employee was injured by a robotic arm on a different machine. He was treated in hospital for a swollen and bruised shoulder.

Other employees recalled missing safety guards on the RM machine enabling access to the robotic cell when the arm was working.

Mr Compton alleged there was a drive at the company to save money on repairs. It could take months for new parts to arrive.

He will continue opening the case for the prosecution in the morning.

The trial is expected to last six weeks.