A Liverpool, UK-based company has been fined £100,000 and ordered to pay £16,941 in costs after a man was killed and another seriously injured when they were struck by a load that fell from an overhead crane.

The UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned of the dangers of allowing cranes to operate over the heads of employees.

MRX Engineering Support Services Ltd., trading as Stackright Building Systems of Charleywood Road, Kirby, was fined at Liverpool Crown Court of breaching S 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 in that it failed to ensure the safety of its employees. The company pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing at Knowsley Magistrates Court.

Welder Keith Wharton, aged 41, from Kirby was killed instantly and his colleague Christopher Cansfield, 31, from Bootle sustained severe injuries including a broken neck and leg in the incident on March 8 2007.

HSE inspector Iain Evans, who investigated the incident, said: "Keith Wharton should not have died. His was an avoidable, pointless and unnecessary death in an environment where there were numerous safety issues. If the company which employed him had dutifully exercised its responsibility to ensure their safety, his family would not be here at court today grieving their loss."

He added: "There is a very clear responsibility on employers and managers to safeguard their workers.  There is plenty of advice and guidance within industry and from the HSE on how to comply with the law. The failure to do so in this instance cost one man his life, and seriously injured his colleague."

The court heard that the Mr Wharton was killed and Mr Cansfield seriously injured when a steel lifting frame weighing more than half a ton fell from an overhead crane. There was no safety catch on the hook of the crane, which could have prevented the load from falling. The company should not have allowed loads to be moved over people's heads and the crane operators had not been adequately trained in its safe use.