According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), approximately eight thousand people are victims of forklift Injuries through accidents at work every year. Recently, a warning had been released by health and safety experts after a forklift truck broke a supervisor’s leg earlier last week.
The employee had been permitted to drive the truck without adequate training causing an accident where he reversed into his supervisor and broke his leg.
The firm, Line Mark Ltd had been prosecuted for breaching Health and Safety regulations After the accident, the HSE had issued a safety warning for warehouses using forklift trucks. Safety Inspector, Chris Smith of HSE said “This prosecution should serve as a warning to all corporations to ensure forklift truck drivers are fully trained and have the relevant qualifications. While this was a serious injury, it could have been far worse.” Forklift trucks resulting in deaths Being hit by a forklift truck is the most common cause of fatality in the workplace The inspector added that “Forklift trucks are a potential danger to their operators and other persons in the vicinity if not operated with great care. They should only be used by fully trained and qualified operatives. fork truck training devon
Forklift trucks are particularly dangerous in the workplace and, by law, employers must give employees adequate training to ensure their health and safety. Where possible, employers should also tailor training to the employee’s individual needs. On average, forklift trucks are involved in 24% of all workplace transport incidents. These are often due to poor supervision and a lack of training.”
Last year, Michael Iain Johnson had lost his life to a forklift accident. After having had overcome cancer, Mr Johnson, 44 had suffered from serious head injuries when he leaned out of a forklift truck crushing himself between the vehicle and a hopper.
The HSE had issued a similar warning in 2005 after another man had lost his life whilst assisting with stock transfer operation.
The firm had been fined £10,000 for breaching the Health and Safety at Work regulations. In 2005, Health and Safety Executive inspector Richard Clarke said: “This was a tragic fatality that could have easily been prevented had a safe system of work been in place. The container had a specialist mechanism for emptying it, but an improvised method was used when the incident happened.
Employers have a responsibility to ensure that the right equipment is used for the job and to ensure that loads are safely secured. That wasn’t the case in this incident, which unnessicarily led to the loss of a man’s life.”
fork truck training is a legal requirement, as is ensuring that unathorised personel are actively prevented from gaining access to and driving a truck, meathods to ensure safety must be in place, such as tight controls on fork truck keys. for more information, please contact a qualified fork truck training institute who should be able to update you on your health and safety obligations in order to ensure compliance.
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