Worker suffered serious injuries when a crate fell on him

A transport company firm has been fined for safety failings after a worker suffered serious injuries when a crate fell on him whilst he was unloading crates from a container.

Ipswich Magistrates’ Court heard how on April 2013 an employee of Portmans Transport Limited of Felixstowe was assisting to unload two containers which contained two tonne crates of glass mirrors. The second container had no fork pockets or lighting, so the worker had to closely guide the fork lift truck operator to ensure the forks were in position

Some of the crates were jammed in place and as the fork lift truck operator attempted to dislodge them, one of the crates toppled onto the worker, pinning him to the side of the container. The incident has left him with life changing injuries and he will be unable to work for at least three years.

Portmans Transport Limited, of Bryon Avenue, Felixstowe, was fined a total of £9,000, and ordered to pay £917 in costs after pleading guilty to an offence under Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

Speaking after the hearing HSE Inspector Corinne Godfrey said:

“This worker was employed by the company for less than three weeks as a Warehouse Foreman, and although he had previous job experience which involved the maintenance and repair of containers, he had never been involved with this type of unloading work known as ‘devanning’.

This incident was inevitable, neither worker had seen the procedures manual or any risk assessments/method statements relating to the unloading of containers.

The company failed to plan what should happen when it was identified that loads were not able to be readily offloaded by forklift truck.

It’s essential that before any work tasks are carried out, the relevant risks should be identified and appropriate control measures put in place to protect against them

Collier Industrial Waste Ltd, Forklift Accident - HSE Prosecution

An industrial waste company based in Trafford, has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), after a worker suffered serious injuries in a forklift truck accident.

The sixty year old worker from Wirral was working for Collier Industrial Waste Ltd, at their plant on Nash Road, in Trafford Park, when he was struck by the reversing 35 tonne vehicle.

The employee, who has not been named, suffered life threatening injuries in the accident including multiple bone fractures and internal injuries, which left him hospitalised for several months.

An investigation by the HSE revealed that the company did not have adequate safety provisions in place, to protect employees from on-site vehicles.

Collier Industrial Waste Ltd, of Nash Road, Trafford Park, in Manchester, was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay court costs totalling £9,410, after admitting a breach of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations, at Trafford Magistrates’ Court in Sale.

Speaking after the court hearing the prosecuting HSE inspector stated that the accident could have easily been prevented, had the company put in place simple and inexpensive safety systems to ensure workers were not at risk from moving vehicles.

Forklift Battery Care & Charging

Under normal circumstances, battery charging should take place when it reaches 80% depth of discharge (near the “red zone” on most discharge meters), not before. Most new batteries are designed to provide 1,500 charge “cycles” or more.

If a battery ever overflows, using the appropriate safety wear, take a few minutes to rinse it with water immediately afterwards (baking soda optional) to prevent corrosion on top of and beneath the battery. Use enough water to thoroughly dilute the spilled acid to the extent that it is not harmful to the environment. The spilled acid is both highly conductive and corrosive. If not rinsed away, the conductivity can cause the battery to discharge itself, even while it is not in use, and generate addition heat during recharge. Over time, acid left on top of the battery will form clumps of conductive white corrosion. If it is allowed to accumulate, it can dramatically shorten the life of the battery and make checking and adding water an unpleasant experience which employees will tend to avoid, as well as cause obvious safety concerns.

Never over fill a battery. It will cause overflow on the next charge. Acid loss shortens run time, generates more heat, and requires shop service to correct. Never make a habit of giving short charges during lunch or break time. Each short charge constitutes a “cycle” and over time will significantly affect the performance and life of the battery. It also causes excess heat that will make the battery less efficient than not charging at all. It’s better to let a battery rest and cool during lunch or breaks.
Never interrupt a charge cycle if it is avoidable. It is recommended that once a charge cycle is initiated, it be allowed complete. Never allow a battery to sit discharged for more than a few days to avoid “sulfation”. If it becomes necessary to store a battery for any period of time, charge it prior, and once every 3 to 6 months thereafter to avoid damage. Never allow a battery to go completely dead (unusable). It will take over 72 hours of continuous charging to bring back to full charge, and may require shop service to restore full charge. Never continue to use an overheating battery. If a battery ever radiates excessive heat during use or charging or emits a strong sulfur smell, discontinue use and call for service. You have a battery, charger or lift problem. Never allow sparks or flame near a charging battery. Batteries produce explosive hydrogen gas while charging, which could cause an explosion resulting in injury or death. Acid vapours escape during charge, and residue will develop around the vent cap area even under normal circumstances.

Deep discharging will harm the battery and cause all of the forklift’s electrical components to run excessively hot. Significant lift truck damage can result, including complete motor failure, burned armatures and brushes, and burned or stuck contacts, which can quickly render the truck unsafe and unusable. Deep discharging can easily increase the recharge time outside your charger’s range to recover, causing the battery to be only partially charged for the next day. Most automatic chargers must sense a minimum battery voltage to activate and turn on. If the battery is below the threshold voltage, you will not be able to recharge the battery and may require a service call to manually start the charger.

Traffic and Pedestrian Segregation

By law, pedestrians or vehicles must be able to use a traffic route without causing danger to the health or safety of people working near it, this equally applies inside and outside of your warehouse.
Roadways, forklift lanes and pedestrian footpaths should be separate whenever possible.

You need to consider protection for people who work near vehicle routes.

By law, traffic routes must also keep vehicle routes far enough away from doors or gates that pedestrians use, or from pedestrian routes that lead on to them, so the safety of pedestrians is not threatened.

Where pedestrian and vehicle routes cross, provide appropriate crossing points for people to use. Pedestrians, cyclists and drivers should be able to see clearly in all directions. Crossing points should be suitably marked and signposted, and should include dropped kerbs where the walkway is raised from the driving surface.

Where necessary, provide barriers or rails to prevent pedestrians from crossing at dangerous points and to direct them to the crossing places. Similarly, you can use deterrent paving to guide pedestrians to the crossing points.

At busy crossing places, consider traffic lights, zebra crossings (or other types of crossing), or suitable bridges or subways as a way of segregating pedestrians from moving vehicles.

Forklift Truck Refresher Training

Refresher training for forklift operators should be conducted to ensure that the operator has the knowledge and skills needed to operate the powered industrial truck safely.

Refresher training in relevant topics shall be provided to the operator when:

• The operator has been observed to operate the vehicle in an unsafe manner;

• The operator has been involved in an accident or near miss incident;

• The operator has received an evaluation that reveals that the operator is not operating the truck safely;

• The operator is assigned to drive a different type of truck; or

• A condition in the workplace changes in a manner that could affect safe operation of the truck.

Forklift Dock Safety

Dock Safety is often overlooked or under-emphasised within training packages. The loading dock is usually the most dangerous area of a warehouse for lift truck operators as well as non-operators. Training should include proper use of dock levelers, truck restraining devices, trailer inspection, and any additional signaling or safety devices used.