Derbyshire-based operator Vinyl Compounds has been ordered to pay more than £500,000 in fines and costs after a worker died when a forklift truck overturned at its site.
In February 2015, 19-year-old Ben Pallier-Singleton suffered fatal crush injuries when the forklift truck he was driving down a slope during night time hours overturned.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that he was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the incident, nor had he received adequate training.
Vinyl Compounds, which holds an O-licence authorising up to 15 vehicles and 20 trailers, had also failed to inform its employees about the speed limit on site; had not put in measures to control the speed of vehicles; and did not have suitable lighting or edge protection in place to prevent forklift trucks from overturning.
The company, based in High Peak, Derbyshire, pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety regulations at Manchester Crown Court on 4 September. It was fined £450,000 with £71,778.20 in costs.
HSE inspector Berian Price said: “This tragic incident could have easily been prevented. The company’s management of forklift truck driving operations and its failure to provide various measures to ensure the safety of the external yard area coupled with the lack of safe driver measures, such as wearing a seat belt, exposed employees to serious safety risks.”
