Ebbw Vale company fined over £14K after lorry driver was hit by forklift truck

Platt Packaging Limited, an Ebbw Vale packaging company, was fined £14,663 (inc. costs) after a delivery driver was hit by a forklift truck at its premises.

The circumstances were:

• Graham Williams visited Platt Packaging on 7 October 2013 to collect palletised products.
• Platt Packaging had no formal safe system of work in place for delivery operations at the site. 
• The company also failed to provide instructions for delivery drivers to be in a place of safety while the forklift truck was being used. 
• While his lorry was being loaded, Mr Williams was on a telephone call with his employer and was standing nearby with his back to the vehicle.  
• Suddenly he was struck by the reversing forklift truck and knocked to the ground.
• He suffered a double fracture to his left ankle, damage to his leg and spent over a month in hospital. He has been unable to return to work.

The HSE Inspector said:

“The dangers associated with workplace transport are well-documented in the industry. Incidents involving moving vehicles and pedestrians on the same site have resulted in major injuries, and even fatalities in the workplace. Platt Packaging should have provided a clearly marked, designated safe zone for delivery drivers and implemented a safe system of work that incorporated the need for communication between the delivery driver and the forklift operator. Had these basic safety requirements been fulfilled, the incident would not have happened and Mr Williams would not have been injured.”