Forklift Operator Kills Colleague at Work
March 30, 2011 by admin
Filed under Health and Safety News
A car components factory has been fined £400,000 after the death of a worker who was struck by a forklift truck.
The employee died in hospital three days after the truck at the components firm in Llanelli reversed into him, said the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The employee died on the day he was to take voluntary redundancy.
The company, which admitted health and safety charges, was ordered to pay £45,000 costs at Swansea Crown Court. The employee’s family said he was a “fabulous” person whose children were “still finding it extremely hard to cope with losing their loving father”.
The HSE said that the employee had gone onto the factory floor to “issue instruction” to a forklift truck operator. After speaking, the forklift truck reversed into him, knocking him to the ground. He sustained fatal head injuries.
HSE inspector Stephen Jones said: “It’s fairly routine for forklift trucks to operate within the same area as pedestrians in this industry. However, working procedures and systems need to be in place to prevent vehicles colliding with people. This tragic incident could have been avoided had all contractors and employees been aware of the risks, and had the safety procedures been taken to avoid such risks.”
In a statement, the employee’s family said no other family should go through what they had had to endure.
“To die on the day he was due to have taken voluntary redundancy is even more tragic. Time does not heal. We all miss him so very much and his children are still finding it extremely hard to cope with losing their loving father. We hope employers hearing this case will have more regard for health and safety in future as no other family should go through what we have had to endure – losing such a wonderful person from our lives.”
