A lack of safety planning at a workplace in Lincolnshire saw the fork of a forklift truck hit an employee, fracturing his ribs.
On 16 June 2009, two workers had just finished loading coiled pipes into a lorry while standing on its 14ft-high roof at Polypipe Ltd in Boston Road Industrial Estate, Horncastle.
The pair were being lowered to the ground in a cage by a forklift truck when the cage caught on the side of the lorry began to fall. The forklift driver tried to catch the cage with the vehicle’s forks but they ended up hitting one the men inside the cage, fracturing his ribs and leaving him off work for three weeks.
Magistrates in Skegness were told that Polypipe did not plan the loading work properly, nor did it ensure the job was carried out safely.
Polypipe Ltd, of Broomhouse Lane, Edlington, Doncaster, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4 (1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and was fined £20,000. The company was also ordered to pay compensation of £5,000 to the injured person and £4,765 costs.
Medico-Legal News Source: Claims Management Magazine
