Vacu-Lug Traction Tyres has been fined £300,000 after a worker was fatally injured in an incident involving a forklift truck.
In July 2014, the worker was transporting tyres when the forklift truck ran over a loose tyre on the road. The forklift overturned and he was crushed between the vehicle and the ground. He was not wearing his seatbelt.
Lincoln Crown Court was told that the Grantham-based tyre retread firm had no company policy in place to instruct workers to wear seatbelts while operating forklift trucks.
An investigation by the HSE found that if the tyres had been secured correctly, this would have prevented them from rolling into the roadway and would have reduced the risk of the forklift truck overturning.
It said the incident could have been prevented if Vacu-Lug Traction Tyres had enforced the use of seatbelts at its site.
The company was fined £300,000 with £25,000 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 at Lincoln Crown Court on 15 September.
