Staircraft Group fined £206,477 after employee fell 3.5m from forklift truck whilst cleaning windows.

Carpentry and joinery company Staircraft Group Limited was fined £206,477 (inc. costs) after a man working unsecured on the forks of a fork-lift truck fell 3.5 metres to the ground.

The circumstances were:

• On 14 June 2021 an employee was cleaning windows.
• He was working from an unsecured stillage on the forks of a fork-lift truck in order to clean office windows at height.  
• The company failed to identify that using a stillage to lift someone on the forks of a forklift truck, a method that they had used before, was unsafe.
• There was a lack of training for employees on the dangers of working at height without the proper equipment .
• There were no systems of work or risk assessments in place.
• The stillage tipped and the employee fell 3.5 metres to the ground.  
• As a result of the incident, he sustained a broken leg and an injury to his elbow.

The HSE inspector said:
“The employee’s injuries were very serious, and he could have easily been killed.
This serious incident could so easily have been avoided by simply carrying out correct control measures and safe working practices.
Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards.”