September 30, 2009
Death of Worker by Forklift Truck Accident Results in Heavy Fine for Employer
In yet another instance of employer’s negligence in providing proper safety measures at the workplace, an employee of Trackline (International) Ltd was crushed to death by a forklift truck.
The facts of the case suggest that employee Shaun Porter was shifting a steel assembly from one place to another at one of the assembly sites of the company. However, the gangway he was using was obstructed by a projecting vehicle frame. Porter tried to skip over the obstruction and move his truck ahead. His colleagues noted that the load could collide with the frame and warned him about the same. Porter applied the brakes but the load had already collided, leading to the truck getting upturned.
Porter tried getting out of the truck but he was stuck and the truck fell on him, leading to his instant death. The official post mortem found that the cause his death was the crushing of his vital organs.
A further investigation also disclosed that there were no proper gangways or access ways in the site. This forced the employees to use unofficial and ill-maintained gangways, which made an accident of this nature more likely. The place also lacked a system for measuring the sizes or weights of trucks.
In the prosecution following the accident, the employer was fined £7,500 with costs of £6,690 by Lincoln Crown Court. The company pleaded guilty to the charges of breach of Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 as it was not able to provide for adequate measures to ensure health and safety of the employees with respect to load handling and other management related issues.
Every workplace should refer to the HSE guidelines to know the necessary actions and precautions to be taken when pedestrians and fork lifts move about in such proximity. Workplace Law is a major provider of accredited health and safety training, with well established study programmes for IOSH and NEBOSH courses. They provide hundreds of organisations throughout the country with consultancy and support to meet the specific needs within their own workplace – click on IOSH Health and Safety for training to assist in the development and implementation of safety systems within your own workplace environment.