Nathan Walker, 19, and his colleague Gavin Rawson, 35, were working at Greenfeeds Ltd in Normanton, Leicestershire, when they were overcome by toxic fumes and collapsed.
The pair, who were yard workers for the food waste recycling company at Church Farm, were found face down in liquid inside the tank on the afternoon of December 22, 2016.
Nathan had worked for the company for two months at the time and never got to meet his son who was born 15 days later. From right to left - Nathan Walker - Gavin Rawson.. They were pronounced dead at the scene at Church Farm, on Normanton Lane, Normanton, Leicestershire. Both men were pulled from the tanker after a saw was used to cut holes in its side. Emergency services were called to the scene and they tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate the men.
Gillian Leivers was jailed for 13 years, with her husband also sentenced and the firm fined £2m.
Leivers was convicted of two counts of gross negligence manslaughter and a health and safety offence.
Ian Leivers was jailed for 20 months after being found guilty of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Managers of a food waste company have been jailed after two staff members drowned in a tanker of pig feed.
The firm, which is now in liquidation, was fined after being found guilty of corporate manslaughter, while manager Stewart Brown was given a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years, for a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act, sentencing took place at Leicester Crown Court.
The families of Nathan Walker and Gavin Rawson spoke outside court following sentencing (Image: Leicester Mercury / Chris Gordon)
The court heard that on 22 December 2016, Mr Nathan Walker was tasked with cleaning a tanker containing about six tonnes of food waste.
He climbed into the tanker, but was soon overcome with carbon dioxide fumes that had built up in a confined and unventilated area, leading him to collapse and drown in the pig feed.
When he got into difficulty, his colleague Mr Gavin Rawson attempted to rescue him but also died.
Judge Peter Fraser said the "hard-working" Mr Nathan Walker had only been at Greenfeeds for "a few months" but planned to leave as he was "increasingly unhappy" and "scared" of doing some tasks.
He said Mr Gavin Rawson was described as "a cheerful soul" by his family, adding they "are also rightly proud of how brave he was that day, dying whilst trying to rescue his work colleague".
The court heard there was "pandemonium" after Mr Walker fell into the semi-liquid pig feed, with the Leivers' son also at one point attempting to rescue before using a ladder to climb out of the tanker when he could not breathe.
"Without that, he too would probably have died in the tanker," the judge said.
Nathan Walker, 19
The judge said Greenfeeds had repeatedly been warned of the dangers involved in cleaning tankers by yard staff, but "simply ignored" their protests.
Describing it as "a company which had absolutely no regard for the safety of its employees", he said it had a "dangerous culture" where safety procedures were not implemented.
Gavin Rawson, 35,
SAFETY COMES FIRST
Yard staff "hated" cleaning the tankers and made repeated "deputations" to Ms Leivers for safety equipment, the judge said, but "nothing was provided and nothing changed".
"The inside of tankers are confined spaces, and it is dangerous to enter them without safety measures," he said.
"There was no safe method of working; there was no training; there was no assessment of the risks; there were no warnings given to the yard staff; there was not even a basic record kept of when someone went into one to clean it.
"The method that had been adopted at Greenfeeds for years, and which the senior management knew about, was simply climb in, clean the tanker, and take your chances."
The court also heard Greenfeeds had been convicted twice in 2006 for breaches after the death of an employee involved in a tanker cleaning the previous year, but Judge Fraser said this had not led to a review of its safety procedures.
"It must have been plain and obvious to [Mr and Ms Leivers] that the company needed to improve its safety measures, and by a substantial margin," he said.
"Tragically, the company did not observe even the most basic safety requirements."
Mr Rawson's mother Linda and brother Gareth are demanding to know why the company was allowed to continue operating.
"Your blatant disregard for the very high risk of death was of an extreme nature," he said.
"I am also of the view that your behaviour was motivated by avoiding the cost of implementing proper safety measures."
In addition to its fine, Greenfeeds was ordered to pay £40,000 costs, with Mr and Ms Leivers ordered to pay £9,100 and £30,000 respectively.
Gordon the Tanker..
While Brown, 69 and of Fernwood Close, Mansfield, had only joined the company in March 2016 and was not senior management, the judge said he showed "wilful blindness" to the conditions at Greenfeeds, having cleaned the tankers himself.
"It must have been obvious how dangerous the operation at Greenfeeds was," he said.
The judge said Mr Leivers, 59 and of Fosse Road in Newark, showed a "flagrant disregard for the law concerning health and safety" and a "wholesale dereliction of duty" to yard staff.
Regarding Ms Leivers, also of Fosse Road in Newark, he said the 60-year-old's approach to safety led to the "completely unnecessary and avoidable deaths", and issued "ultimatums" to staff who protested over conditions.
He also criticised her efforts to "shift the blame" on to other employees and providing "untruthful and inaccurate" statements to police.
Prosecution barrister John Harrison QC told jurors a tanker - called Gordon - had a blockage, meaning it could not be emptied properly and was half-full of pig feed. Gordon's driver, Richard Draycott, went and informed colleague Stewart Brown of the blockage. Stewart Brown and Gillian Leivers told him that the only way to fix the blockage was to get someone to clean inside. Nathan Walker was nominated to do this task.. "Driver Richard Draycott's instructions were to go to the yard and get Nathan Walker to help him." The system in place was for one worker to go inside the tanker via a hatch on top, while another worker acted as a "spotter" and assisted in holding the hose.
"Nathan shuffled himself forwards and dropped out of view into the inside of the tanker," "A short time later, Tanker driver Mr Draycott shouted to Nathan to see if he was all right. He did not get any reply so climbed up on top of the tanker.."He saw Nathan was holding on to the top of the hatch with both hands; his whole body was hanging inside the tanker. "Mr Draycott could see that Nathan was looking down and his whole body was shaking. "Despite Mr Draycott's shouts, Nathan did not respond and moments later let go of the hatch." Mr Draycott then saw Mr Walker lying face down in the feed, the court heard, so he found Gavin Rawson and another worker. "Immediately, Gavin Rawson ran to the tanker to rescue Nathan," Mr Harrison said. "They [Mr Draycott and the other worker] both soon realised that Gavin Rawson was also inside the tanker, although neither had seen him enter."
Post-mortem examinations were carried out by forensic pathologist Stuart Hamilton, who told jurors the men's cause of death was drowning.
Dr Hamilton said he internally examined both men and found animal feed in their airways.
Dr Steve Forman, principal medical adviser for the Health and Safety Executive, also gave evidence. He explained to jurors carbon dioxide is usually present in air at a concentration of 0.04%, and is not dangerous at this level. However, it causes people to become unconscious when it is at higher concentrations, he said. "I would suggest that carbon dioxide levels in the tanker were at least 20%," Dr Forman said. He believed the beer and fizzy drinks in the animal feed would have caused the high levels of carbon dioxide. "The carbonation of these particular products is down to the presence of carbon dioxide," he said. "When these products are sat they release carbon dioxide into the environment or the space."
Speaking at Leicester Crown Court, HSE investigator Dr Steve Forman said that is was likely that the men were overcome by carbon dioxide — created by the rotting food and drink.
Several employees told police they had been asked to carry the same task at some point — with 'no masks or safety equipment — not even a ladder.'
Mr Harrison said that Mr Walker was chosen to drop down into the tank as he was 'the smallest', at 5ft 4in tall, while Mr Rawson acted as his spotter.
Mr Harrison said: 'No safety equipment was handed out, or available, to carry out the work, not even a ladder.
'So there was no way of someone getting out of the tanker once inside, if they got into difficulty.'
How could a spotter help if they would also die if they tried to save their work colleague - friend, shouting for help could also increase the chances of more deaths..
