Manufacturer fined £120,000 after worker suffers life changing injuries

A worker suffered extensive injuries to his foot, after a fork lift truck he was driving collided with another fork lift truck being used in the same work area.

He spent more than a week in hospital after the fork of the truck pierced his foot and it was initially feared he would need to have his foot amputated. His foot was saved but the worker can now only walk short distances and is unable to return to work or drive.

The workers’ employer, a confectionery manufacturer, was fined £120,000 and ordered to pay over £9,500 in prosecution costs after pleading guilty of breaching the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations.

During their investigation, the HSE found that the accident was one of a number of collisions in the same location at the workplace within a three month period.Restricted vision, overcrowding and poor traffic management were just some of the reasons given as a cause for ALL of the accidents.

An HSE spokesperson said that “The fact that there were three collisions in just three months in the same spot shows this wasn’t just a one off incident but something that was almost inevitable. Employees had raised concerns about restricted vision when driving through plastic curtains and the overcrowding in the area, but the management team ignored these concerns”.