ize="1">On that occasion, scaffolder Frank Larty, from Liverpool, was lucky to escape serious injury when he was scooped up in an open bucket of one of the factory's the loading machines.

Loader crashed

There had also been other accidents including one where a loader crashed into a van and damaged it.

The court heard the visibility for drivers of the loading machines was restricted with a black spot in front - made worse when the bucket was loaded.

Judge Hughes said there was a chaotic state of affairs, with lorries, forklift trucks and pedestrians in the area where the Komatsu vehicles were being driven, with none having any kind of priority.

"There was absolutely no regulation at all," he said.
'Degree of complacency'
Prosecuting Huw Roberts accused Kronospan of complacency over safety, a claim rejected by Andrew Pickering, defending.

Mr Pickering said the company had spent £2m over a three-year period on safety and had immediately taken action to prevent a reoccurrence.The company admitted two health and safety offences and in addition to the £75,000 fine were ordered to pay costs of £7,386. HSE inspector Brian Neale said it was a terrible tragedy that should not have happened.

http://news.bbc.co.uk
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Man killed in backhoe accident

Aaron Sands and Kelly Cryderman
The Ottawa Citizen

Elvio Pressacco, 50, was described by his family as 'probably the kindest, gentlest soul you'd ever want to meet.' A case of mistaken hand signals has resulted in the accidental death of a man working at a Kanata construction site, say police and witnesses.
Elvio Pressacco, 50, a Plantagenet resident, was working as a surveying technician for Tamarack Homes on Pine Hill Drive in Kanata.
Shortly before 1 p.m., he was struck by the forks of a backhoe and pinned between the bucket and the ground.
Police say he died because of a "miscommunication" between the foreman and the operator of a backhoe.
Lynn Pressacco said Mr. Pressacco was not only her husband of 27 years, but was one of the finest people she ever knew. "He was probably the kindest, gentlest soul you'd ever want to meet," she said.
Still stunned by the day's events, she asked how a person "who gives everything they have to their family could get killed in an accident like this? How it could happen I have no idea."
The couple has two sons, Peter, 22 and Tony, 20.
"He was the salt of the Earth," says Peter Pressacco. "Anything he was doing, he put everything he could into it."
The accident apparently happened when the backhoe operator misread the hand signal from the foreman that was intended to tell Mr. Pressacco to move from where he was standing. Instead, the operator took it as a signal to resume digging, witnesses told police. The shovel swung around and the teeth struck Mr. Pressacco in the back.
"From the information we're getting, the operator of the machine could not see (the victim) from where he was," said Ottawa police Sgt. Steve Hodgson.
Workers rushed to his aid, but he was unconscious and they could not find a pulse.

Coroner Dr. Guy Genier and officials from the Ministry of Labour were called. A death on a construction site automatically calls for an inquest.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/city/010111/5081464.html
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Fooled by lesser-spotted fork-lift
A bird watcher traveled 100 miles to trace a rare bird - only to be taken by surprise.
Sophia Hadi, 21, drove from her home in Leeds to an Asda store at Washington, Tyne and Wear, after a friend told her about a strange bird call she had heard.
But when she got there she discovered that the noise was not a rare bird after all.
The store had apparently changed the alarm on its fork-lift trucks to a tweeting sound after complaints about the noise.

http://www.optechflt.com/horseplay.html
No Responsibility accepted for the accuracy of this article

Youth Killed by Forklift : Death Follows Paper Mill break-in
Police have warned of the dangers of playing on industrial sites after a teenager was crushed to death by a forklift truck at Aylesford Paper Mill on Sunday night.
Samuel Lambton, 17, of Hevercourt Road, Singlewell, Gravesend, was killed after being squashed against a roll of paper while in a warehouse on the Reedpack site in New Hythe Lane with 5 other youths from the Gravesend area.
A post-mortem examination held on Wednesday by Home Office pathologist Dr. Peter Vanessa at Pembury Hospital showed that the teenager died after inhaling blood. He also had a fractured skull.
The Coroner has been informed and an inquest will be held.
Det. Sgt. Pat King, of Westmalting Police said that investigations were continuing.
The 5 youths have all been interviewed and released. It is not yet known whether any criminal charges will be brought.
Mr. King said: "Any sites where there is heavy machinery around pose hazards and are very dangerous places to play."
The Health and Safety Executive was informed, but will not be investigating.
A spokesman said: "These young men were old enough to take responsibility for themselves and they had broken in. It is not as though they were children."
http://www.optechflt.com/obsvis.html                    No Responsibility accepted for the accuracy of this article

Un-Nappy Landing
A farewell party for baby wear worker Karen Buckley nearly killed her as she fell from a forklift truck.
Karen, 19, was dressed up in giant nappies [diapers] for her comedy send-off organised by wacky workmates. She was dumped into a basket and hoisted 14 feet high on the forklift.
Frightened Karen panicked and toppled headfirst onto the concrete floor of the factory, and was unconscious for over an hour. Both wrists were also fractured and doctors said she could have died if her arms had not broken the fall.
Karen was on the mend yesterday, but furious bosses at the Hellene Manufacturing Company were considering disciplinary proceedings against her workmates.
http://www.optechflt.com/obsvis.html                                   No                                   No Responsibility accepted for the accuracy of this article

Man Beheaded At Abattoir
by John Askill
A man had his head sliced off in a horrific accident at an Abaattoir yesterday.
He was driving a forklift truck used for carrying animal carcasses when it started to topple over on its side.
As he tried to jump to safety part of the cab’s steel frame smashed into his neck severing his head from his neck. Police investigating the accident at Appleshaw near Andover, Hants were trying to trace relatives of the 25-year old victim last night.
A spokesman said, "he was apparently doing a U turn when the truck toppled.
http://www.optechflt.com/pinched.html               No Responsibility accepted for the accuracy of this article

Inquiry Over Man Hurt in Forklift
An investigation was underway at a Northampton firm today following an accident where a man was trapped in the cage of a forklift truck.
The man was working in the warehouse at plastmo Profiles on the Molton Park Industrial Estate when the cage tipped over onto its side at about 11 am yesterday.
Fire-fighters using their emergency tender used an air-powered saw to cut the man free before he was taken to Northampton General Hospital, to be treated for a broken arm and leg and shock.
http://www.optechflt.com/pinched.html                   No Responsibility accepted for the accuracy of this Responsibility accepted for the accuracy of this article

Truck Trap Agony for Gary
Factory worker Gary Brown was rushed to hospital in agony after a forklift truck trapped him by the testicles.
Gary, 37, was operating a "pedestrian" forklift machine at a tile maker’s in Gateshead, Tyne, and Wear.
As he stepped back, the blade of a second truck shot between his legs and pinned him to his machine.
Gary, a married man, had an operation to repair a three-inch cut and suspected internal injuries.
A hospital spokesman said last night that he was stable. Factory inspectors are investigating.
http://www.optechflt.com/pinched.html                  No Responsibility accepted for the accuracy of this article

Death of Worker Shows Dangers of Unauthorised Modification of Industrial Forklift Trucks

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a safety warning against unauthorised modification of industrial forklift trucks following an incident in which a worker was crushed to death.

The worker was employed by a Midwest company that fabricates material handling equipment for the road paving industry. In one job, when the end of a 10,000-pound silo had to be lifted, an eight-foot long boom was attached to the fork carriage of a forklift and used to raise the silo. The worker went underneath the fork carriage to measure the diameter of the silo. He was crushed when the 500-pound fork carriage and the 250-pound extension boom disengaged from the top truck carriage bar and fell on him.

In a Hazard Information Bulletin, OSHA warned that attaching the eight-foot boom to lift the silo is a modification of the forklift which affects its capacity and safe operation. Modifications must have the prior written approval of the forklift manufacturer.

Also, the OSHA forklift truck standard prohibits a worker from attempting to measure the diameter of the silo from under the fork carriage.

The fork carriage attachment for the forklift has capacity ratings between 2,000 and 5,500 pounds. When the load of the silo was placed at the tip of the extended eight-foot boom, it may have exceeded the capacity of the attachment, causing it to jump off from the top truck carriage bar.

Hazard Information Bulletins are issued to provide relevant information on unrecognised or misunderstood health hazards inadequacies of materials, devices, techniques, and safety engineering controls. The bulletins are initiated based on information provided by field staff, studies, reports and concerns expressed by safety and health professionals, employers, and the public.
Copies may be obtained from OSHA area or regional offices and OSHA-funded state consultation projects.

For further information on workplace safety and health issues, contact the call OSHA's Office of Information and Consumer Affairs at 202-219-8151.

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