Firm guilty over worker’s death in North Yorkshire pond

 The  grass cutter’s roll-over protection system had been removed before Kamil Grygieniec, 23, started his work in North Stainley near Ripon, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed.

An HSE spokesman added that his employers, MHS Countryside Management Ltd had failed to carry out a risk assessment specifically for the grass cutting operation round the pond on October 8, 2021.

The ride-on lawnmower Kamil Grygieniec was using at the pond (Image: Health and Safety Executive)

A statement on behalf of Kamil’s mother and father said: “The pain I feel every day since that tragedy is unimaginable, I do not wish that on anybody. That day I lost part of me.

“I will never be able to hug him, tell him how much I love him. I will never receive flowers from him, will never meet his wife or his children. Kamil was my physical and mental support.

“That day was his last day at that workplace and it happened to be the last day of his short life.”

“I don’t know what life holds for the future for me, but what I am certain of is it will not be as full or as happy now that Kamil has gone from our lives.

“What makes it even worse, I believe his death could have been prevented and should never have happened.”

MHS Countryside Management Ltd, of Bishop Auckland, pleaded guilty to failure to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of all its employees including Mr Grygieniec of Northallerton. It was fined £27,000 and ordered to pay £11,166 in costs at York Magistrates’ Court.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Darian Dundas said: “This is a profoundly tragic case which is made all the more harrowing because the safety feature designed to prevent incidents like this had been removed from the lawnmower – leading to the fatal turn of events which has robbed a family of their loved one.

“The completion of a suitable and sufficient site-specific risk assessment is vital before undertaking work activities and ensures appropriate action can be taken to eliminate hazards or, where this is not possible, to properly control the risks.

“In this case, the failure to assess the risks and ensure suitable safety measures were in place resulted in a tragic and entirely avoidable loss of life.”