Recently we wrote an article where a company was using a forklift truck as a substitute for scaffolding. On that occasion, horrified onlookers reported the incident to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the company was fined £100,000. Luckily, there was no incident and no one was harmed. However, in a similar incident, a man was fatally injured when he fell while attempting to repair the roof of a packing shed while perched in a potato box which was lifted up by a forklift truck.
On 29 January 2021, Mr Young, a roofer was asked to repair a roof panel and unblock a gutter of a packing shed on a farm owned by D S Thornhill (Rushton) Limited. While walking on the roof, a second panel was damaged and a replacement was purchased to carry out the additional repairs. Three days later, he returned with his son to complete the job. He asked to be raised up to the roof and Denis Thornhill, the farmer, used a forklift truck that had a potato box balanced on its forks. The potato box used to lift Mark Young was unsecured to the forklift truck with him inside it. He was raised about 16 feet while his son who was on the roof attempted to reposition the panel. As Mr Young, raised up on the forklift truck, moved to one side of the potato box, it overbalanced and fell to the floor and sustained serious head injuries. Although paramedics arrived and tried to resuscitate him, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
A joint investigation by Cheshire Constabulary and HSE found that there was no safe system of work implemented for working at heights and unsuitable work equipment, including the forklift truck, was used. Also, the forklift truck didn’t have regular thorough examination at the required frequency and was unsuitable for lifting people. Additionally, Denis Thornhill was not formally trained in operating a forklift truck.
A Prohibition Notice was served on the company, prohibiting work until a safe system of work was devised. Denis Thornhill was cleared of manslaughter but was found guilty of breaching Section 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,000. D.S. Thornhill (Rushton) Limited was found guilty of breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,000.
HSE Inspector Ian Betley said after the hearing: “This was a tragic incident that could so easily have been avoided. The forklift truck and potato box were the wrong pieces of equipment for the job and never a suitable platform for working at height. The work should instead have been carried out using a tower scaffold, scissor lift, or a cherry picker. All companies have a legal duty to ensure the safety of workers they employ or who carry out work for them. If that had happened in this case, then Mark’s life wouldn’t have been lost.”
A forklift Truck is a very useful but dangerous piece of equipment and should only be used for the task it is designed for, which is moving goods and for stacking the shelves of a rack. Never use it for a person to gain height or reach something at height. Only a person with appropriate training should operate a forklift truck.
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Wallace School of Transport including Forklift Training in London is a fully accredited RTITB company with over 60 years’ experience. You can be trained either at your own work site or at Wallace Centre in Park Royal. If you have any questions, call Wallace Forklift Training on 020 8453 3440, choose option 3 or click here to email us.