Regard all workplace vehicles as high risk

Workplace vehicles must be regarded as being a major risk.

We have had 2 recent incidents:

One, at Con Mech Engineers, resulted in a leg amputation, incurred a fine of £28,000
The other, at Tangerine Confectionery, almost resulted in the loss of a person's foot, but has meant that he has little use in it, resulted in a fine of £130,000.

Both were easy to spot as:

• The Con Mech accident occurred with a vehicle similar to a forklift truck, but which ran along a fixed track. ie it's dead easy to spot where the danger points may be.
• A previous accident, with exactly the same problem of poor-visibility curtains at a doorway, had occurred at Tangerine Confectionery just before the accident, but nothing had been done.

However, the fines are inconsistent.  In my opinion, the Con Mech fine is too low, and employers can expect much larger fines.

The key point is to regard vehicle movement as a very high risk, and to tackle all the risks so far as is reasonably practical. 

See Con Mech accident details
See Tangerine accident details.