Vol. 80/No. 28 August 1, 2016
Profit drive kills 5 laborers in UK
Saibo Sillah, Ousman Jabbie, Mohammed Jangana, Alimano Jammeh and Bangaly Dukureh were employed as laborers by an agency. They were killed when six concrete blocks, each weighing a ton and a half, fell from a wall that was used to retain scrap metal, crushing them to death.
The plant remains closed and an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive is underway.
Hawkeswood was previously fined £50,000 ($66,660) in 2012 for safety violations after a worker’s arm was dragged into an unguarded machine at the plant.
“There have also been fires at the plant recently,” said local resident Madeline Smith, a self-employed care worker, when members of the Communist League visited the area July 9. It took 100 firefighters to put out the blaze when metal, plastic and rubber at the plant caught fire in February.
“The company thinks they can get away with unsafe conditions by employing immigrants,” said Smith. Four of the workers killed were from Gambia and one was from Senegal. “No one should have to work in these conditions.”
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