Livestock auction mart fined after fatal incident involving a dairy bull

A livestock auction mart has been fined after an employee was fatally injured when he was struck by a dairy bull he was helping to load it on to a lorry.

Preston Magistrates’ Court heard that on 25 August 2017, the employee was helping to move a bull and four cows towards a waiting lorry at the premises of his employer Gisburn Auction Marts Ltd. Whilst trying to load the livestock into the lorry, the bull turned and attacked the employee, causing fatal injuries.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that there weren’t any suitable refuges or barriers within the loading area for those handling the livestock to shelter behind, if for example, cattle became fractious.

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