In the last News Article, we talked about the Common Forklift Truck Accidents. However, accidents can happen in any environments and conditions and in the most unexpected places. Although most commonly found in warehouses and factories, forklift trucks are used practically in every facet of life including ports, construction sites and farms. In this article we look at two unusual accidents that were reported recently.

A forklift truck accident at Ipswich docks caused serious injuries to 21 year old Mr Addison and resulted in Qube Containers Limited being fine £30,000 plus expenses. Mr Addison had been unloading cars from shipping containers. Whilst doing this, he was working with a colleague to empty two small boxes of waste packaging into a larger commercial waste bin. The smaller bins were on a pallet which was on a forklift truck. Mr Addison was standing on the pallet. As the forklift truck moved, the ratchet straps fell from the bins and got tangled in the wheels. One strap got caught on Mr. Addison’s foot, pulling him to the ground before the forklift truck ran over him. He suffered a broken ankle and require skin grafts to his leg and thigh. He received treatment for 9 days in the hospital.

An HSE investigation found that Qube Containers Limited had failed to provide safe equipment for the task and had not carried out a risk assessment for the system of work being used. Inspectors also noted that traffic routes on site were poorly organised, with vehicles and pedestrians operating in close proximity. The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

HSE Inspector Adepeju Sogadgi stressed that the incident highlighted the importance of proper risk management. She said: “This injury could easily have been prevented. Employers introducing new processes should make sure they assess the work activity sufficiently and apply effective control measures to minimise the risk. There should be systems in place to ensure safety and the risk should have been considered and documented.”

In another fatal accident, an eight year old child staying with his grandparents during the holidays died when he was run over by a reversing forklift truck. Exactly what happened is not known but it is believed the child either fell from the forklift truck whilst it was reversing or ran towards the reversing vehicle and was run over.

The director of a farming partnership was prosecuted under Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. They pleaded guilty to the charge and fined £17,500 plus expenses.

Agriculture has one of the highest fatal accident rates of any industry in the UK. It is also the only high-risk industry that has to deal with the constant presence of children as farms are homes as well as workplaces.

Ruth Wallace of Wallace Forklift Training London says that “it is important to be vigilant at all times while operating heavy machinery and have processes in place to mitigate any risks”.

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.