Warwickshire haulier fined £90,000 after cyclist killed by falling load

A Warwickshire haulier has been fined £90,000 after a tragic incident where a heat exchanger fell off an HGV, killing a cyclist.

In June 2021, a lorry operated by JW Morley Transport was hauling four metal heat exchangers weighing over 10,000kg through Nuneaton. As the vehicle rounded a bend, the load shifted, snapping a securing strap. One exchanger fell from the lorry and struck 70-year-old cyclist Christopher Baker, who was riding alongside.

A Health & Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the load had been poorly secured. The heat exchangers were at risk of toppling, and the ratchet straps were in poor condition. Investigators also learned the driver hadn’t received any training on load security for high-risk or unusual loads and wasn’t given a securing scheme by his employer.

In a statement, Baker’s widow Rose said: “We did everything together both as a couple and as a family. We have always been a very close family, and it feels that the very heart of it has been ripped out. Chris and I had plans for our retirement after working so hard for so many years. Our children and grandchildren were our priority and now that precious time has been taken from them.

“No amount of words will ever express how we all feel. We are heartbroken, devastated and really don’t think we will ever be the same again,” she said.

Nina Day, HSE senior policy advisor, said: “The lorry should not have entered the public road network. At the point it did there was an immediate and likely risk of harm to other road users, pedestrians, and the driver himself.”

She added: “The fatal load shift was due to the grossly inadequate manner of loading and securing the load, and was both foreseeable and entirely preventable.”

JW Morley Transport admitted breaching the Health & Safety at Work Act. They were fined £90,000 and ordered to pay £8,047.55 in costs at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court.