Company fined following accident using forklift truck
An engineering company has been fined after an employee was badly injured while lifting a metal structure using a forklift truck.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that the worker and a colleague were attempting to move a metal structure out of the premises using a forklift truck. Whilst they tried to raise the structure from its supporting trestles it twisted and swung towards the worker, entering the cab of the forklift truck.
The worker received serious flesh wounds and a fractured arm as a result of being struck by the structure, during the incident in June 2014.
Knowsley Engineering Services Ltd, Skelmersdale, pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act, and was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,670.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company had failed to ensure that the lifting operation was suitably planned, supervised or carried out safely.
The company had not carried out a risk assessment and no formal training had been provided for employees.
HSE inspector Imran Siddiqui said, following the hearing: “Had the company taken basic steps such as providing suitable training so those undertaking the lift were in a more informed position to assess and then adequately manage the risks, the incident would have been avoided.”