Sirap UK Ltd fined £150,000 after 1 tonne bag fell and hit forklift truck driver.

Sirap UK Ltd, a plastic packaging manufacturer, was fined £151,061 after an accident  resulted in an employee suffering multiple fractures to their pelvis and legs.

The circumstances were:

• There was no safe working practice for stacking Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers (FIBCs), commonly called bulk bags, or repairing them.
• FIBCs had been stacked in an unsafe manner to a height of approximately 2.2 metres.
• An employee was operating a forklift truck next to these FIBCs.
• He reversed the forklift truck and it caught one of the lower FIBCs causing it to tear and spill its contents. 
• He descended from the truck and attempted to repair the tear.
• However, the top FIBC, weighing about 1 tonne, fell and struck the employee.

The HSE inspector said:
“There are many companies using this type of container and they should note that the use of FIBCs requires safe stacking formations and safe systems for reuse and repair. Had the company adopted the correct standards this worker would not have been injured”.