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December 6, 2012

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CCTV catches worker being lifted on forklift

A warehouse operative was filmed on CCTV standing on the forks of a forklift truck as it lifted him and a pallet truck across a warehouse floor, leading to him being injured when he lost his balance, a court heard.

HSE inspector Tracy Read explained to SHP that the 39-year-old employee had been working on a contract to bottle a sugar-based energy drink for export at the Chorley, Lancashire-based premises of H&A Prestige Packing on 31 May 2011.

The bottles were loaded on to pallets each weighing 1.25 tonnes, so an electric pallet truck was used to move them around inside containers.

The electric pallet truck was placed on to a counterbalanced forklift truck and on four separate occasions the warehouse shift manager stood on the arms of the forklift truck to stabilise the load.

This process was repeated later on in the shift by the injured person, who stood on the fork arms of the forklift holding the pallet truck in position, as it was moved in and out of the loading bay, to and from the container. As it was being moved into the warehouse, the pallet truck overbalanced and fell from the forklift. The operative also lost his balance and became trapped in the fork arms of the pallet truck.

He suffered sustained bruising to his right hip and thigh, although he avoided being burned by the battery acid that leaked on to the floor from the electric pallet truck.

The inspector said the company should have controlled the employees standing on the fork arms of the forklift truck. The practice became commonplace and had been witnessed on site on several occasions prior to the incident, but the behaviour went unchallenged by two levels of management. The company should have risk-assessed the bottling contract and put in place appropriate control measures and a safer system of loading the pallets into the containers.

Mitigation was offered that the company had a good health and safety record with no previous convictions. It responded promptly and put the necessary actions in place to avoid a repeat of the incident. It now has a forklift truck-mounted working platform to put equipment into the containers and it has provided training for employees in the use of electric pallet trucks.

H&A Prestige Packing Company pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974 for failing to ensure its employees’ safety (fine £8000), and reg.3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (fine £6000) for failing to make an adequate risk assessment. It was also ordered to pay full prosecution costs of £6657 by South Ribble magistrates on 30 November.

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Alexhoward_121
Alexhoward_121
11 years ago

Are you sure you’re on the rignt forum?
This one is for Safety Professionals!
As the inspector said “The practice became commonplace….the behaviour went unchallenged by two levels of management”.
So! – s37 (complicity?) & strangely enough s7 (employees looking after their own & others safety?) wern’t even mentioned! Hmmm.
There’s at least work at height, LOLER & more that could have been cited!
The law was broken -employee got hurt – employer got off light – nuff said!

Andrew
Andrew
11 years ago

Wrt RedBull staff riding on forks:
Many cases involving the MoD have shown that the common law Duty of Care as a UK-based employer DOES extend to other territories that the employee may find themselves in. However the reach of the HSE to bring a prosecution stops at the UK border, just as local authorites have no scope outside their area.
RedBull may be foreign owned but so is Cadbury, Jaguar-LandRover, Asda, Thales and Starbucks.

Andy
Andy
11 years ago

Since it is obvious to the casual observer that “Common Sense” is often applied retrospectively after an accident, it relies on subjective decision making, is neither logical nor enforceable, it is at best useless and more likely non existent.
People make mistakes, they find shortcuts without considering consequences, they act recklessly when under pressure, they fail to speak out against their managers’ stupidity. Injured people are a drain on society, keep them safe and keep industry moving.

Asdasd
Asdasd
11 years ago

More socialist nonsense, employers having to protect people from their own stupidity. Another nail in the coffin of British industry, lets close down businesses and we can all stay at home with no jobs and live in poverty, away from our foolhardiness, but hey at least we will be safe.

Brian
Brian
11 years ago

Socialist Nonesense ????? you’re making an generically good point but i dont believe its apparent in this case . “employers having to protect people form their own stupidity” The SHIFT MANAGER demonstrates no care or attention to the riskd involved

Dbs243
Dbs243
11 years ago

Bibo said, “beware of Trolls”

Mschilling
Mschilling
11 years ago

Forum for safety professionals? I have questioned that one more than once in the past…. However, on a related note, I was surprised that I never heard any more following the Red Bull team member being carried on the forks of an FLT behind Coulthard etc, who were doing a piece to camera on live TV after one of the F1 grands prix this year. I expect it was due to it not being in the UK and not being a UK owned team, even if they are based here? Still, shocking behaviour for such an organisation.

Mschilling
Mschilling
11 years ago

I reckon Common Sense may be a future candidate for the Darwin Awards.

Phillip
Phillip
11 years ago

Dear Common Sense (not), employers employee people, and have a duty to make sure they work sensibly. It is clear from reading the full report that employees had to work in this way because the employer hadn’t provided a safe system of work. If employers aren’t responsible for at least part of their workers actions, then who is. Without knowing the full circumstances, it might have been appropriate to prosecute the employee as well, but employer should have been on top of this from the start.

Richard
Richard
11 years ago

Common sense is obviously out of work and wants to blame anyone who will listen. Why don’t you try and educate yourself to get back into work instead of blaming anyone who will listen. Look at the HSE statistics, we have the lowest accident rates in Europe, work at height is the biggest killer in industry. The sad thing is, Common Sence would be the first to pick up the phone to seek compensation if he had an accident and blame his employer. Or would he say he acted stupidly?????

Stevepg56
Stevepg56
11 years ago

I think common sense should be the next chairman of IOSH

Upyourshse
Upyourshse
11 years ago

When the UK inevitably has its referendum and we drop out of the EU, you ‘professional’ jobsworth zombies that feed off the dead economy will be out of work. This garbage regulation is going, easy when its not law there’s no prosecution, I solved your problem. As an individual I do not want to be protected from my own stupidity, and no government should legislation for similar events which I could equally have pursued in my own private life. Vermin on society with the litigation solicitors

Whelan818
Whelan818
11 years ago

I thought Dinosaurs were extinct. Obviously not.