Workplace Transport Prosecution

There are about 50 people killed each year in accidents involving workplace transport. These types of accidents also cause more than 1500 major injuries (accidents which, for example, result in broken bones or amputations) and about 3500 injuries that cause people to be off work for more than three days. This article pulls together links to information relating to workplace transport prosecution. All f this means that Workplace Transport is high on the HSE agenda when they visit businesses.

Workplace transport relates to any vehicle or piece of mobile equipment that is used by employers, employees, self-employed people or visitors in any work setting (apart from travelling on public roads). As a result, it covers a very wide range of vehicles, from cars, vans, lorries and lift trucks, to less common vehicles and plant such as straddle carriers, rubber-tyred gantries and self-propelled machinery.

Plastic Company fined for serious safety failings (Fork Lift Truck)

A plastics recycling company has been fined for serious safety failings after one of its workers was stuck by a reversing forklift truck at its Hemswell site. A 63-year-old engineer (Mr E) suffered severe back and tissue injuries in the incident at ECO Plastics Ltd’s processing plant in March 2012. Mr E was walking through the ‘Goods Out’ warehouse when he was hit by the reversing vehicle. He was taken to hospital by air ambulance with internal bleeding, two damaged vertebrae in his lower spine and extensive tissue damage to his back, shoulders, neck, thighs and knees.

The incident was investigated by the HSE nad the Company (ECO Plastics Ltd) was prosecuted at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court. The court heard that ECO Plastics had designated a separate walkway for pedestrians to use within the waste processing building. The HSE found, however, that the company had allowed the walkway in the ‘Goods Out’ warehouse to be taped off and blocked with building materials and equipment whilst construction work was being carried out, meaning that Me E (and other employees) had to share a route used by loaded forklift vehicles which were regularly manoeuvring and reversing. The Company took no steps to provide or redirect their employees to an alternative, safe pedestrian route, inside or outside the warehouse.

ECO Plastics Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £12,500 and ordered to pay costs of £5,261.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Karin Abbott said:

This could so easily have been a fatal incident. Mr E has been left with devastating physical and psychological injuries, which have forced an earlier retirement from work and will leave him in discomfort for the rest of his life.

The incident was entirely preventable. Mr E should have been able to use the designated walkway provided within the building, but this was not possible as this walkway was completely blocked by stored building materials and equipment.

The dangers associated with vehicle movements around pedestrians are well-known in the industry. However, ECO Plastics failed to recognise the dangers the blocked walkway had created or provide adequate control measures to ensure the warehouse could be safely accessed by pedestrians while construction work was underway.

A sauces manufacturer fined £140,000 after a FLT truck driver was killed at a factory in Runcorn

A Fork Lift Truck driver was killed while loading a lorry. He was killed after his FLT was struck by a slow moving lorry on the road. AAK UK Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found that forklift truck drivers had regularly driven onto a public road to load lorries, without the company putting any safety measures in place. The company had not carried out an adequate assessment of the risks to its employees or visiting drivers using the ‘Goods Out’ area. Drivers were also not given any information, instruction or training on how to load the lorry trailers safely, and there was poor supervision.

Forklift operator in court after dangerous lift causes serious injury

A forklift truck operator has been prosecuted for safety failings after a teenager was seriously injured by a falling heater unit (which weighed nearly half-a-tonne) during a dangerous lifting operation in Kent. The operator noted that the load was not stable and asked a passing colleague to help steady the load. The colleague was seriously injured when the load fell. The operator was dismissed by the Company. He was then prosecuted by the HSE (under Section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work Etc Act 1974) and was required to pay a nominal fine.

Workplace Transport Prosecution after worker loses leg

An agency worker was left with life-changing injuries when his leg had to be amputated after he was crushed between a moving vehicle and a water tank. He had been working in the heat treatment process area when he was struck by a vehicle similar to a fork-lift truck and pinned by his legs against a water tank.

The HSE investigation found that Con Mech Engineers Ltd had failed to assess and identify the risk posed to workers from contact with the dangerous moving vehicle. As a consequence, it had failed to provide effective measures to prevent any contact. The Company was fined a total of £20,000 (£10,000 for each offence) and ordered to pay £8,045 in costs after pleading guilty to two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Manufacturing company sentenced after a forklift truck reversed into  delivery driver’s lower leg, fracturing his ankle

The delivery driver was struck by the FLT as he stepped from the rear of his lorry after helping the forklift operator to reach a pallet from inside the vehicle at LP Foreman & Sons Ltd in Chelmsford on 19 August 2013.  The Magistrates’ court heard it had become common practice for drivers to instruct FLT operators where to place loads within their vehicles for ease of delivery. The HSE found that even though this brought drivers directly into the area of the yard where forklift trucks were operating, no effective procedures had been established or training provided to ensure that workers on foot and moving vehicles were kept safely apart.

The Company was fined a total of £7,000 and ordered to pay costs of £621 after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 17(1) of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 and Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974

Bolton firm fined almost £130,000 in workplace transport prosecution

A Bolton company (DS Smith Paper Ltd) has been ordered to pay almost £130,000 in fines and costs after a worker suffered serious injuries when he was crushed between two trucks at a recycling plant.

Manchester Crown Court heard that the worker had emptied his load of paper and had got out his truck to close its rear doors, using two buttons on the side of the vehicle. As he did this, another truck reversed into the warehouse through a separate doorway and trapped him between both vehicles. The court was told that, at the time of the incident, there were no barriers in the tipping shed to separate vehicles entering through different doors, and that a supervisor wasn’t present to indicate whether it was safe for drivers to enter the site.  The HSE investigation found it was common practice for two vehicles to be in the warehouse at any one time, putting drivers at risk when they had to leave their trucks. DS Smith Paper Ltd also failed to enforce its own system for controlling entry into the tipping shed as there was not always a supervisor present.

Suffolk rubber granule company prosecuted after forklift overturns

A Suffolk based firm that makes rubber granules has been fined for safety breaches after an agency worker was severely injured when the forklift truck he was driving overturned. The 27-year-old was manoeuvring the vehicle with a clamp attachment in a raised position when it overturned and crushed him at the company’s site in Lakenheath. He suffered severe injuries and subsequently had to have his spleen removed so needs to be on permanent antibiotics. He has since returned to work at another company but still suffers pain.

The court heard the injured agency worker had not received any formal training to drive the vehicle and was not wearing a lapstrap. The company had previously received enforcement action from HSE concerning its management of workplace transport, and as a result had provided training to their own staff but this had not extended to agency workers.

The company was fined £17,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,985 after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 9(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.

Speaking after the hearing HSE Inspector Steven Gill, said:

“This injury could easily have been avoided had the company provided sufficient training and adequate supervision to make sure safety measures were in place, such as drivers wearing seatbelts. Forklift trucks can overturn if manoeuvres are not carried out correctly and such risks are well known in the industry. That is why any driver using these vehicles must be provided with appropriate training.They knew the standard for training because they had provided it for their own staff, but failed to ensure that their agency workers were similarly trained when using the same equipment.”

Lincolnshire farming company fined £165,000, plus costs, for forklift death

A 58 year old employee walking from his car across the yard at the Farm when he was struck by a FLT. His employer was prosecuted by the HSE after an investigation found the company did not have effective measures in place to allow vehicles and pedestrians to move around the site safely. The Crown Court heard that the deceased, who had worked for the firm for 38 years, was making his way to a potato grading shed when he crossed the path of a forklift being driven by a farm employee. He died at the scene of the incident after being crushed by the vehicle.

The Court also heard that safety consultants had carried out a risk assessment in 2003 which highlighted the need for pedestrians and vehicles to be segregated, but the firm did not fully implement these findings. Workers were permitted to park in areas of the site, which meant they walked across the path of workplace vehicles when walking to, or from, their cars. Some workers even used the same entrance to the grading shed as the forklift truck.

The Spalding based company was fined a total of £165,000 and ordered to pay £39,500 in costs after pleading guilty to two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.  After the hearing, HSE Inspector Neil Ward said:

“If [the Company] had taken effective steps to keep employees safe, Mr [employee] would still be alive today. Employees on foot were using the same doorway as the forklift truck, which meant there was a significant risk of them being struck. The company should have managed the yard so that people and vehicles were not sharing the same space. Sadly, Mr [employee] lost his life because this simple procedure wasn’t in place”