A man who was injured in a workplace accident involving a forklift truck has been awarded accident compensation.
In June 2009, the man in question was working alongside a colleague on top of a 14-foot-high truck onto which they were loading coiled plastic pipes. When they had finished the task, they attempted to get down from the truck using a cage balanced on the forks of a forklift truck.
As it was being lowered, the cage started to fall from the forklift truck and the driver pierced the cage with the forks to try to stop this. Unfortunately, the fork hit one of the men, fracturing his ribs. He was taken to hospital and needed to take three works off work following the accident.
The company was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive on the grounds that it failed to ensure that work was planned and carried out safely. The investigation found the company did not have safe systems in place for working from height.
The company was fined £20,000, plus costs of £4,765. It was also ordered to pay the injured employee £5,000 in accident compensation. A safer system of work has now been implemented by the company following the incident.