Workers death could have been avoided
Posted on September 16th 2009
Over £7,000 has been fined to a Northampton based company following the death of a worker, who was crushed underneath a forklift after a simple task went horribly wrong due to a lack of health and safety assessments.
The worker had been required to move a piece of equipment around the factory using a fork lift, but to make sure that he avoided a chassis he tried lifting the forks himself which caused the vehicle to tip up as they became entangled. The forklift truck tipped on to the worker, but despite his failed attempt to move out of the way he was crushed, killing him.
£7,500 has been fined to the manufacturing company, as well as £6,690 in court costs after they pleading guilty to the charges put forward by The Health and Safety Executive, including failing to comply with Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
The death could have been avoided by the company if they had provided safe systems of work including marked out access ways and gangways, load handling arrangements for the forklift trucks and a facility for workers to access the weight and size of their loads.
Tradesman Cover can provide your trade with liability insurance, including employer's liability insurance to protect your business should you be fined following any claims made by your employees in the event of an accident in the workplace.