Food company Dr Oetker has been fined £333,000 after a forklift truck collided with a visiting driver.
The visiting recycling company driver was securing a load of palletised metal drums at the firm’s Leyland site when he was knocked to the ground by a reversing forklift truck in April 2015.
The forklift truck ran over his leg and caused “severe” muscle damage to his calf. He also suffered broken bones in his foot.
The unnamed driver was unable to return to his usual work until a year after the incident, due to his injuries.
The HSE found that Dr Oetker, which has an O-licence authorising up to four vehicles, had failed to adequately identify risks and implement adequate controls at the site, or to communicate such to visiting drivers.
The company, which is based in Park Approach, Leeds, pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 at Preston Magistrates’ Court last month. It was fined £333,000 and must pay costs of £7,113.
