Verplas fined £10,000 after truck driver run over by forklift

Ventilation systems manufacturer Verplas has been fined £10,000 after a lorry delivery driver was run over by a fork lift truck at its depot in Dorset.

In a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution, Bournemouth Magistrates' Court was told how Kelvin Davey, 61, had both his ankles and lower legs broken when the fork lift reversed into him at the firm's Verwood site in March 2010.

Although Davey has now returned to work at the company, his injuries were initially thought to be severe enough to have ended his career.

An HSE investigation found that there was not enough separation of the work area used by both pedestrians and fork lift trucks at the premises.

Verplas pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was also ordered to pay costs of £2,407.

Ian Smart, HSE inspector says: "Even though Mr Davey was very experienced, this potentially career-ending injury still occurred.

"The message is that if firms have limited space they still have to organise their operation so that they don't have conflicting activities going on in the same place. Pedestrians and fork lift trucks don't mix."