Meat plant fined £100k for forklift fatality
A food company has been fined £100,000 after a worker was hit by a forklift truck, whose driver could not clearly see over the load he was transporting.
George Hardie, 60, was walking across a yard at Vion Food Scotland Ltd’s meat plant in Broxburn, West Lothian, when the incident took place, on 2 June 2009. He was carrying paperwork to drop off at another part of the site when a forklift truck struck him. The lower part of his body was trapped under the vehicle and the emergency services were called to free him. Paramedics battled to save him but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The HSE’s investigation found that the forklift was transporting two large containers across the yard to be washed. The containers were stacked on top of each other on the front of the forklift, which made it hard for the driver to see over them. As the forklift approached the washer, the driver felt a bump and got out of the vehicle, and saw Mr Hardie lying on his back, trapped under the forklift.
HSE inspector Peter Dodd explained that the company failed to carry out an adequate risk assessment to ensure that the containers were transported safely. It also failed to put procedures in place to ensure that pedestrians were kept away from moving vehicles in the yard, and the operation was not supervised.€
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Meat plant fined £100k for forklift fatality
A food company has been fined £100,000 after a worker was hit by a forklift truck, whose driver could not clearly see over the load he was transporting.
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Why no comment on what training the FLT driver has had. As an ex FLT driver – trained – I was taught that if you cannot see over the load then you travel in reverse. If travelling forwards when you can’t see clearly because of the load is common practice in this compay then the HSE should slap a prohibition notice on them, the whole company not just thia depot, until they put their FLT drivers some suitable and adequate training! That would probabley hurt more than a £100K fine.