Three companies have been fined six-figure sums after a driver was crushed between a reversing HGV and a forklift truck in a warehouse beside Heathrow Airport.
The employee of Davies Turner Air Cargo was collecting a consignment from Airworld Airlines’ site at the X2 Hatton Cross Centre in August 2017.
A vehicle, operated by Saints Transport, was collecting a consignment from Unilode Aviation Solutions UK, also based at the same site, and it reversed causing the employee to become crushed between the rear of the vehicle and the forklift truck, causing serious injuries.
A Health and Safety Executive investigation found the site layout did not segregate those working or visiting the site enough from being struck by moving vehicles.
The Hatton Cross Centre is owned by Brixton (Hatton Cross) 1 and is managed by Segro Administration.
None of the defendants had taken responsibility for managing traffic. Neither did they communicate, co-operate or co-ordinate with one another.
Segro Administration, Airworld Airlines and Unilode Aviation Solutions UK all pleaded guilty to breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act and were fined £320,000, £120,000 and £110,000 respectively, plus costs.
The prosecution reconsidered the charges laid against Saints Transport, Davies Turner Air Cargo and Brixton (Hatton Cross) and determined it was no longer in the public interest to continue with their cases.
These defendants were found
not guilty.
