HSE | A manufacturing company has been fined £240,000 after a grandfather was killed by a reversing HGV in Birmingham.
David Saint worked as an engineering manager at Northwood Consumer Limited, at its site in Electra Park, Electric Avenue.
The 61-year-old, from Spalding in Lincolnshire, was walking across the service road on the shared industrial estate on 19 October 2023, when the reversing HGV collided with him.
An investigation by the HSE found that Northwood Consumer Limited failed to:
• Undertake a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks associated with workplace transport.
• Address the movement of HGVs in its site rules.
• Eliminate, as far as possible, the need for HGVs to reverse.
• Provide any aids or assistance to HGVs that had to be reversed.
• Display any signage to warn of the hazards arising from the movement of HGVs.
• Control when HGVs would access the site.
Northwood Consumer Limited of Northwood House, Stafford Park 10, Telford, pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £240,000 and ordered to pay £6,917 in costs at Birmingham Magistrates Court on 6 October 2025.
Mr Saint leaves behind his wife, Cassandra, his children Samantha and Adam, his grandchildren, Jake and Ava, as well as his father, Terry, and siblings, Paul, Kim and Michael.
His daughter, Samantha, said: “He was my everything, there was nothing he wasn’t involved in.
“My life now consists of ‘what would dad do?’ I think of him and miss him every day.”
Mr Saint’s son Adam added: “I just miss my dad being there. I miss the conversations that we used to have and his guidance. I just miss everything about him.”
Lead HSE inspector Charlie Rowe said: “This is a tragic and shocking case that has devastated Mr Saint’s family, friends and loved ones.
“Pedestrians being struck by moving vehicles remains a leading cause of workplace fatalities in Great Britain.
“Many of these incidents involve the reversal of vehicles with poor visibility, such as HGVs.
“The HSE will continue to take appropriate enforcement action where employers fail to implement reasonably practicable measures to keep people safe.
“My thoughts remain with all of David’s family and friends.”
This prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Edward Parton and supported by senior paralegal manager Sarah Thomas.
