Liverpool Magistrates Court heard that the firm had failed to take effective measures to ensure its workers were correctly segregated from fork lift trucks.
The HSE launched an investigation after an employee collided with a fork lift truck, which resulted in him breaking his arm. The inquiry, following the incident on 14 December 2015, also found that the clarity of segregation was well below the standards expected.
The company had a poor system of work which was not enforced for the workers who were most exposed to the risk.
The court was told that the company had been served with an Improvement Notice (IN) in 2007 for poor segregation in the yard and warehouse areas. There had also been another incident involving an FLT in 2008 when an employee was injured.
Encirc Ltd of Enniskillen, Fermanagh pleaded guilty to a breach of Regulation 17 of The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations and was fined £500,000 with £7,290 costs.
HSE inspector Jane Carrol said:
“Poor segregation leads to accidents. There was a failure to properly plan work and this accident highlights the risks that are involved. Incidents relating to workplace transport can be avoided if effective measures are taken.”
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So the Driver was not accountable, nor the trainer of the Driver or the company selling insurance to the company to allow it to run. Refusing to allocate blame will never improve standards, why not name the local council standards officers who did nothing . They seem to have a career that Is unaccountable , someone knew this was comming ,from magistrates to police officers ,they need the salary because they are responsible ?????
I do think you make some good points Ian. I have always felt that we should always ask: 1. Did any worker notice the failures alleged and did they take any action?
2. Did management respond to any comments / compliants from workers? 3. Has any enforcing authority inspector visited and did they notice the alleged failures? We all have a role to play in trying to prevent major accidents and the more we point out things that are not correct, the greater the chance action will be taken. IMHO.