REDBRIDGE: Hospital cleared of worker's death (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

REDBRIDGE: Hospital cleared of worker's death

3:07pm Tuesday 9th December 2008 in Search By Daniel Binns

THE trust which runs Redbridge's hospitals has been cleared of any wrongdoing after one of its workers was crushed to death by a huge machine.

Manager Bayunga Meya, 47, was killed in December 2005 after he became trapped under a large industrial laundry press at King George Hospital in Ilford.

After turning the system off to correct a fault, Mr Meya suffered serious chest injuries when he was hit by a large metal basket after a colleague, unaware that he was there, restarted the machine, Southwark Crown Court heard.

In the wake of his death, Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust were charged with breaching health and safety regulations.

But at a hearing today at the court, the trust was cleared of blame.

A spokeswoman for the trust said: "Our sympathies are with Mr Meya’s family at this difficult time.

"The Trust worked closely with the Health and Safety Executive when investigating this case, and we are pleased that we have been cleared of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.

"The Trust takes the safety of its staff extremely seriously."