31 May Fork Lift Truck Tragedy Vacu-Lug Traction Tyres Ltd was fined £300,000 following the death of a Grantham based fork-lift truck driver. A short opening line, but an avoidable tragedy lies behind it. In September 2017, Vau-Lug was fined £300,000 at Lincoln Crown Court for breach of health and safety regulations following the death of a fork-lift truck [SW] driver in … Read More
29 November Company fined for lack of control of Fork Lift Trucks A cast iron bar manufacturer that neglected the risks to pedestrians from moving workplace transport has been fined £100,000 after an employee was struck by a forklift truck. The employee was in the holding bay carrying out checks on the bars when he was hit by a forklift and sustained a fractured leg. Following this … Read More
31 July Untrained banksman crushed by reversing lorry Death of a banksman Tooles Transport has been fined £150,000 after a ‘caring’ and ‘selfless’ father was crushed to death by a reversing lorry following a series of health and safety blunders. Mr Kevin Scott died while acting as an untrained banksman at Tooles Transport yard in Rushock Trading Estate, Droitwich. He was crushed by … Read More
17 May Remember: Lorry Loading must be planned The £40,000 fine handed down to a scaffolding contractor serves as a reminder that even the simple act of Lorry Loading must be planned. Derby Magistrates’ Court heard how, on 22nd February 2016 at a site in Chaddesden, 24-year-old [LG] was injured while scaffold fittings were being loaded into bins on the back of a … Read More
17 May Reversing Vehicles – failure to control led to serious injury and large fine Failure to control reversing vehicles led to the supermarket chain Tesco being fined £1.6m following a prosecution brought by Ealing Council. The supermarket chain pleaded guilty to two health and safety offences (dating back to August 2014) when a Tesco driver reversed into a member of the public at the Tesco Metro store on Greenford Road … Read More
10 April Death at Work – Agency worker crushed while unloading lorry Death at Work – it’s never a headline you want to read or to be featured in. A logistics company has recently been fined £373,000 after a worker was crushed while unloading a vehicle from a visiting delivery lorry. Southend Magistrates’ Court heard how an agency worker was unchaining a vehicle ramp from a delivery lorry … Read More
14 December Driver banned for 128 mph in 50 mph limit Reported recently in the Leicester Mercury: A BMW driver has been caught speeding at 128mph through a 50mph roadworks area on the M1. Amir Nazari was travelling at more than one mile every 30 seconds in his BMW X5 and was putting “lives at risk”, police said. The 39-year-old was caught travelling at the staggering … Read More
13 December Injury after unattended telehandler was left running Once again a recycling company has made the news, again this is not for a good reason. This time the company was fined £666,000 after worker suffers head injuries after an unattended telehandler led to serious injury. Countrystyle Recycling Ltd, a Maidstone based recycling company, was fined after a 34-year old worker suffered life-threatening head … Read More
4 December Lack of separation – people and vehicles (including FLT) The lack of separation between people and vehicles (which also includes things like forklift trucks, FLT) has resulted in a national manufacturer and supplier of fitted kitchens, appliances and joinery products being fined £1.2 million after the death of a visiting HGV driver at one of the company’s premises. The Crown Court in Carlisle heard how an … Read More
31 October Separation of People from Moving Vehicles The lack of separation of people from moving vehicles was one of the reasons that an 89-year-old worker was fatally injured when struck by a reversing delivery vehicle. In too many workplaces that I visit, there is insufficient consideration given to this common, dangerous, controllable practice. The Magistrates’ Court in Mansfield heard how on 26 April … Read More