Norfolk haulier Foulger Transport has been fined £20,000 following an incident in which a warehouse worker had the bones in his foot broken by a moving forklift truck.
Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court heard that on the 22 March 2018, whilst working in the transport firm’s hub warehouse at its Snetterton premises, Martin Shepherd was struck by the vehicle and knocked to the ground.
Before the vehicle came to a stop, Shepherd’s foot became trapped under the wheel, breaking bones in the upper part of the foot.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Foulger Transport, part of the Kinaxia Logistics group of companies, had failed to have in place appropriate systems to ensure that vehicles and pedestrians moved around the warehouse in a safe manner.
The HSE found that recent changes to the warehouse layout had not been considered in the company’s assessment of risk and the warehouse team were relied upon to work safely with each other without effective training and supervision.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching regulations in the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regs 1992 and was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,724.05.
HSE inspector Saffron Turnell said: “This incident could easily have been avoided had appropriate systems been put in place to suitably separate the fork lift trucks and pedestrians.
“Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards.”
Year: 2011 | Body Type: Box | Cab Type: Day | Registration: NX61BNN | Mileage: 12,500 km | Power: 176 bhp
Year: 2021 | Body Type: Tractor unit | Cab Type: Sleeper | Registration: MC70UCX | Mileage: 739,527 km | Power: 500 bhp
Year: 2017 | Body Type: Crane | Cab Type: Day | Registration: BN17ZVD | Mileage: 222,762 km | Category: Rigids
