We may think we are doing things right, but are we?

Do you have forklift trucks and/or delivery vehicles operating on your premises today?

Accident: A national manufacturer and supplier of fitted kitchens, appliances and joinery products have recently been fined £1.2 million after the death of a visiting HGV driver at one of their company’s premises.

The national manufacturer pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

What does the Law say?

Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work 1974 states:

It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, and welfare at work of all his employees.

Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work 1974 states:

It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.

What happened?: The HGV was situated for unloading, the joinery company forklift truck (FLT) operator proceeded over to the lorry to lift the kitchen worktops off the lorry, due to overloading the FLT, the FLT overturned and crushed the delivery driver, resulting in a fatality.

How did the company fail against the law?

Section 2(1): The joinery company failed to ensure the FLT driver was operating the equipment in accordance with the law and the FLT manufacturers safe operating loads (overloading)

The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) place certain requirements on employers. The law states you must make sure that all people who use, supervise or manage the use of work equipment have received adequate training, which includes:

• the correct use of the equipment:
• any risks from its use:
• the precautions to take

Section 3(1): The joinery company failed to provide an adequate safe system of work for workers not under their employment (failing to ensure the delivery driver was clear of the loading/unloading area before unloading commenced)

Simply preventable: The joinery company as all of us can simply and easily undertake the correct, appropriate and frequent training to ensure all operators understand the equipment, risks, precautions and safe working loads to prevent accidents and maintain compliance with the law.

There isn’t any excuse: the HSE provides many guidance notes, documents and ACOPs (Approve codes of practices) to help all companies comply with the law.

Don’t forget, this is the law!

The HSE inspector who investigated this accident said:

“Standing too close to where loading or unloading work is being carried out can put people in harm’s way so people, such as delivery drivers, should be in a position of safety when forklift trucks are operating.

“This tragic incident could have been avoided if Howden Joinery Ltd had implemented a safe procedure to ensure that pedestrians were kept at a safe distance during loading and unloading work.

“Duty holders should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards.”

Closing: No one plans to have an accident. No one wants to become ill as a result of his or her work. Yet there is no shortage of examples - some major, or fatal - all serious and costly.

This article is intended to highlight more needs to be done.

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