HSE has released information about a Scottish firm which has been fined for safety failings after an employee was seriously injured by a forklift.
The incident occurred when the driver of the forklift truck reversed and then moved forward, which resulted in a collision with the employee concerned who was walking backwards at the time.
The HSE investigation into the incident found that they had failed to ‘provide sufficient segregation between pedestrians and vehicles’ and that they had also failed to provide ‘sufficient instruction to control vehicle movements in the area while pedestrian were working’.
The dangers of warehouse vehicles are well known throughout the industry. Recent figures show that warehouse vehicles contribute to over 5000 incidents every year in the workplace and can cause serious harm and in the worst cases death.
Incidents such as the one described above are entirely avoidable. Had correct pedestrian walkways or zones been clearly marked by safety barriers or floor marking and correct instruction for controlling the forklift in pedestrian areas been provided then the incident could have been avoided.
Some may think that health and safety has gone over the top, but dangerous incidents such as this reminds us that there is still a need to enforce sensible health and safety practices.
Simple area/zone planning of factories and warehouses working out the safety pedestrian routes and work areas and then investing in most suitable safety barriers and other demarcation should be standard practice, and we should acknowledge that for the majority of businesses it is.
However, once practices have been installed it is then important to maintain systems used, keep training up to date and make sure safety barriers and demarcation is to a good standard.
HSE provides a large amount of Vehicle at Work literature and guidelines on their website which addresses the issues of vehicles safety, people’s safety, and site safety.