Forklift Truck Safety

Protect your workforce from Forklift Trucks

The Health & Safety Executive have very specific guidelines for the use and implementation of forklift trucks in the workplace. The following is a brief run down of what can go wrong when a company hasn't done enough to protect the workforce....

On 24 July 2017 Birmingham Magistrates’ Court heard how an employee was hit by a forklift truck whilst walking in the designated pedestrian area of the site’s roadway. The employee suffered severe crush injuries, and tragically died on 8 August 2017.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the measures in place to segregate pedestrians from vehicles was inadequate, with the designated pedestrian walkway running, unprotected, down the centre of the roadway used by vehicles.

Minteq UK Ltd of Kings Norton, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and has been fined £200,000 and ordered to pay costs of £23,217.87.

Speaking after the case, a HSE inspector commented, “Far too many people are killed and seriously injured by vehicles in the workplace every year". Provisional data for 2018/2019 shows that out of the 147 workers fatally injured, 30 of them were as a result of being struck by moving vehicles. Many hundreds of people are left with life-changing injuries.

“The requirement for companies to ensure adequate separation and segregation between pedestrians and vehicles is paramount. This tragic and totally avoidable incident highlights the need for companies to comply with their legal duty to identify what can kill and seriously hurt people in their workplace and take steps to stop that happening.”