A warehouse and storage company has been fined after an employee sustained serious injuries when he was hit by a forklift truck.
Southampton Magistrates’ Court heard how on 11 July 2019, the delivery driver was in a delivery yard at Driver’s Wharf in Southampton, while his vehicle was being loaded, when he was hit by a forklift truck. He was knocked to the ground and the forklift truck ran over his legs causing severe crush injuries.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that there were inadequate control measures in place to segregate pedestrians and vehicles at the delivery yard.
Skillbeech Services Ltd of Carnac Place, Cams Hall Estate, Fareham pleaded guilty to breaching section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. They were fined £32,000 and ordered to pay costs of £8,222.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Nicola Pinckney said: “The injuries sustained in this incident were life changing and could have easily been fatal.
“This incident could have been avoided if basic vehicle and pedestrian segregation and control measures such as barriers, marked walkways and safe working practices had been in place.
“Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standard.”
Note to editors:
- The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise. hse.gov.uk
- More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/hsg136.pdf
- HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk
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