A warehousing company was prosecuted after a customer had both of his legs and wrists broken and had to have his left leg amputated below the knee after he was struck and then run over by a reversing fork lift truck.

The accident happened in Middleton, Manchester on March 24th 2000 when a customer visited the warehouse to collect some items. He was standing in the yard while a lift truck was in use removing pallets from the warehouse to the yard. As the truck was reversing to return to the warehouse it hit the man who had also started to walk towards the warehouse. The collision knocked the injured party to the ground and both his legs were run over by the truck.

The firm had been served with an improvement notice in November 1999 ordering it to implement a vehicle management system because of the potential risks of accidents. The company had however, decided to start the vehicle management scheme on March 27th - three days after the accident occurred.

The company was fined £10,000 under section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act after it pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the safety of persons not in it's employ. It was also ordered to pay £1775.10 costs.

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On this occasion a Business Manager was seriously injured when he fell from the cage seen here. The accident happened on April 26th 2000. He sustained a fractured skull and suffered several fractured ribs. The injured party was attempting to unplug a component cleaning machine from an overhead power socket by standing inside the cage which was resting on the forks of the lift truck. The wire cage suddenly tipped over causing him to fall 3 meters to the ground. Newcastle Crown Court heard that at the time of the accident it was common practice for employees to be raised up in cages on the forks of a lift truck.

The company pleaded guilty to a breach of section 2 (1) of the Health and safety at Work Act and was fined £15,000 along with the full prosecution costs of £2711.75. The company have since reviewed their procedures for working at heights and provided hoist trucks to allow the job to be done safely in future.

The company was fined £3000 under section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act together with a further £1000 for a breach of Construction and Loler Regulations and ordered to pay the full prosecution costs of £1000.
Source: Safety Management Magazine, published by the British Safety Council
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A construction firm and one of its directors have been fined a total of £60,000 at Southampton Crown Court. Hungerford based construction firm Austin Brickwork Ltd and company director Julian Austin, have been fined after a forklift truck driven by a company employee knocked down and killed labourer Kevin Moyle, on a building site in Basingstoke, on August 7th 2000. The driver had not been trained or tested to operate a forklift truck. Austin Brickwork was fined £40,000 plus £8,799 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the HSW Act 1974, in that it failed to ensure the safety of employees by not restricting the use of the forklift truck to competent staff. Mr Austin was fined £20,000 after pleading guilty to section 37(1) of the HSW Act because he instructed an untrained employee to drive the truck. HSE Investigating inspector Mike Sarson said "Mr Moyle's death highlights the need for employers to use only trained and licensed forklift truck drivers. Any employer, director or manager that allows an untrained person to operate any workplace plant or machinery vastly increases the risk of an accident which could result in serious injury or death". 

A disabled woman has won a top award after shear determination led her to become a fork lift truck driver and find work.

The woman was paralysed and had to learn to walk again after being hit by a car in 1976. Still only able to walk short distances without aid of a wheel chair but successfully raising a family of two she did not want to move into jobs like telemarketing or office work. She is quoted as saying "I thought if I could drive an automatic car, why not a forklift truck like my husband. I contacted the doctor and the Health and Safety who gave me the all clear"

After she was rebuffed by one job center but then contacted GATT Ltd. A training provider in Hinkley. She is quoted as saying proudly "I had never been in a machine vehicle and I found it difficult to get used to at first, but I managed to get a full counterbalance license"

She is now able to manoeuvre warehouse pallets 80ft in the air and had a job at Toys 'R' Us store in Coventry. She is quoted as saying "The manager worked with me and they took me as me, not a disabled person. I progressed to a narrow isle/turret lift license."

On February 29th 2000 she was winner of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce's Training Excellence Award. She is quoted as saying "It was a brilliant evening and it really hasn't sunk in yet that I have won. It took a lot of determination to get where I have"

Sadly her job was just a Christmas contract ad at present she is unemployed.

If you are in a position to offer this lady a job then she can be contacted through the

Daventry Express on 01327 703383        www.daventryonline.co.uk
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