Family handoutTata Steel has been fined £1.5m after a contractor was killed at work in its Port Talbot plant.
Justin Day was found slumped in a “hot rolling channel” on 25 September 2019 after being crushed by a large steel beam.
The 44-year-old’s family, from Llansamlet, Swansea, said they had been “shattered” by his death and were “disgusted” by a lack of support offered by the company.
The Health And Safety Executive (HSE), which brought the case, said the “long and complex investigation” had led to the “right result”.
The court heard Mr Day worked for contractors Mii Engineering, of Bedwas, Caerphilly, and was on site at Port Talbot on 25 September 2019.
Nuhu Gobir, prosecuting, explained during the hearing that Mr Day had finished work in an area that had been isolated to make it safe to move around.
After completing and signing off the work, he then went outside, leaving his radio in a shared area, before colleagues told him he had been called via the radio as an oil leak had been discovered.
Mr Day returned to the area he had been working in, which the court heard had since been partially made “live” again.
As he walked across the floor and climbed down into a part of the machinery, it activated the sensors and a large steel beam began to move, crushing Mr Day.
Passing sentence at Swansea Crown Court, Judge Geraint Walters said that by all accounts Mr Day was “well versed in work of this sort” and there was an appropriate risk assessment in place by Tata Steel for the initial repair work.
However, the judge said Mr Day “should have been told that the call was cancelled or at the very least contacted to tell him that the system was partly live to reduce the risk”.
Having reviewed CCTV footage of the moments before Mr Day’s death, Judge Walters said he believed Justin Day stepped down into the coil tilter machinery as he “knew there were men underneath” and there was “every reason to anticipate” that he would do so.
“It’s obvious he was trying to communicate with those beneath,” he said, adding it was not a “reckless act” as Mr Day believed he was “safe to do so”.
During the hearing, Judge Walters said systems in place were not “sufficiently adhered to” and “the company fell short of the appropriate standard”.
Taking into account Tata Steel’s previous record of 21 offences across 12 court appearances between 2011 and 2023, and four victim impact statements read in court, Judge Walters said no fine he could impose could “restore life”.
Describing Mr Day as a family man “who has left many of them bereft”, he turned to the public gallery and said: “No fine I impose today can alleviate the suffering of those who lose a loved one.
“No fine I impose today can restore life. None of that is within the court’s gift.”
Tata Steel, who had previously pleaded guilty to two offences including failure to ensure the health, safety and welfare of a contractor, was fined £1.5m and ordered to pay costs of £26,318.67.
Mr Day’s wife, Zoe Day, said her husband was a “great man” who was “respected by all his friends and family”.
She said she had been due to meet him that day for their son’s local rugby game but at about 15:00 BST she took a call from her uncle asking about an accident at the steel works.
After “frantically ringing around” his friends, Mrs Day found out her husband had been crushed.
“I didn’t know what to do with myself,” she said, adding that, soon after, one of Mr Day’s friends pulled up in a car.
“He just shook his head and I realised then that Justin had been killed.”
The couple, who had been together for 24 years, shared a “beautiful family and a granddaughter”, Mrs Day said, describing her husband as “just a typical family man, a grafter and a gentle giant”.
She said as a family it was hard to find closure.
“It’s changed me as a person completely. I’ll never be the same person, the Zoe that was married to Justin and happy.
“It’s gone on for nearly six years now and we just want closure, it’s been extremely hard.
“Our lives were absolutely shattered and they are still shattered now, it doesn’t get easier at all.”
Mrs Day said she was “disgusted” with Tata Steel, claiming there had not been “any emotional support or anything or counselling, not even a letter or a phone call” from the company.
She said: “There are loads of stories, loads of memories, lots of good good times, unfortunately they all came to an end.
“He went to work and he never came home to his family.”
Speaking after the hearing, Gethyn Jones, HSE lead inspector, said he was pleased Tata had pleaded guilty to the charges.
He added: “This has been a very high-profile case. A man got up in the morning, went to work, and never returned home to his family.
“It’s a tragedy. The message for us is the human cost. At the end of the day, a family lost a loved one, irrespective of the legal proceedings today.”
A spokesperson for Tata Steel UK said: “We wish to express again our sincere condolences to Mr Day’s bereaved family, friends and workmates.”
