Two men drown in toxic pig feed after recycling firm’s gross negligence

Nathan Walker, 19, and Gavin Rawson, 35, got into difficulty during the cleaning out of a tanker containing semi-liquid pig feed at Greenfeeds Ltd in Normanton, Leicestershire. A six-week trial against the family-run firm found inadequate health and safety procedures that led to the men’s deaths.

Greenfeeds Ltd was found guilty of two counts of corporate manslaughter this week. The firm’s three main people were also charged, Leicestershire Live reports.

Ian Leivers, from Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, was found guilty, as a director of Greenfeeds Ltd, with a breach of section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Here, the courts believed the offence was committed with his consent or attributable to his neglect.

Gillian Leivers, 60, was found guilty of two counts of gross negligence manslaughter. She was also found guilty of a breach of section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Etc. Act 1974 by virtue of section 37(1), with the courts also believing the offence was committed with her consent or attributable to her neglect.

Transport manager Stewart Brown, who is from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, was found guilty under section 7(a) of the Health and Safety at Work Etc. Act 1974. It’s a charge that says he failed to take reasonable care for the health and safety of others, who might be affected by his acts or omissions at work.

The 69-year-old was also charged with two counts of gross negligence manslaughter. However, he was found not guilty of these two counts.

Investigations in the wake of the two men’s death uncovered a series of health and safety failings on the part of the firm. Major concerns had also been expressed over the company ignoring previous concerns.

Mr Walker, whose partner has since had his baby, and Mr Rawson both needed rescuing with holes cut into the tanker to free them just days before Christmas 2016.

Emergency services were called to the site. Despite resuscitation attempts, both workers died at the scene.

Forensic reports would later determine the men had either become overcome by the toxic feed in the tanker, or had suffered from a lack of oxygen. The latter option is thought to have caused them to lose consciousness and fall into the animal feed and drown.

Subsequent investigations from Leicestershire Police and the Health and Safety Executive found that at the time of Mr Walker and Mr Rawson’s deaths, Greenfeeds Ltd had no adequate health and safety procedures in place to govern the cleaning of their tankers. They also found there was no named health and safety officer at the company.

Investigations also determined that while the cleaning method used on the tragic day – with one person entering the tank and a second acting as a spotter – had been used on many occasions, the method itself had had no risk assessments in place. Previously, staff at the company had expressed concerns about the dangers about the cleaning method, but these concerns had been ignored.

On the fateful day, Mr Walker and Mr Rawson were acting upon the directions of Greenfeeds Ltd’s office and accounts manager Mrs Leivers and Brown. They, alongside Greenfeeds’ Mr Leivers, were then prosecuted on grounds of neglect, with the firm charged with corporate manslaughter.

The trial at Leicester Crown Court heard Mr Walker had only been working at the company for two months, and his death caused his family “shock, horror and grief”.

A statement from his family said: “Nathan’s death was cruel and there was no sense in it. The shock, horror and grief of hearing that our son had been killed will stay with us for the rest of our lives. The pain we feel in our hearts is still completely unbearable. Life will never be the same for us. We wish every day that this had never happened and that he was here right now living his life to the full and loving being a dad, big brother, son and grandson.”

Speaking after the trial, Detective Constable Kirsty Iqbal, who investigated, said Greenfeeds failed on many counts. She said: “Nathan Walker and Gavin Rawson were two young men who had their whole lives ahead of them. Both men went to work on the day of 22 December 2016 at Greenfeeds Ltd where they should have been looked after and their safety should have been paramount.

“Instead investigations showed that the system which was used to clean out the tankers at Greenfeeds Ltd was so fundamentally dangerous that fatal consequences were virtually certain. Mr Walker and Mr Rawson had their futures taken away from them simply because the firm did not have the correct safety procedures and equipment in place. Their deaths should never have been allowed to happen.”

Gillian Leivers, Ian Leivers and Stewart Brown have all been released on bail. The three will be sentenced on Thursday, June 16.