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

Driver died when Head became trapped in tailgate of vehicle

A lorry driver died after his head became trapped in the tailgate of his vehicle while making a delivery to a shopping centre, an inquest heard. Gary Leslie Pickering, of Swinton, Manchester, was found by a security guard in the loading bay at Dudley’s Churchill Shopping Centre.

An inquest was opened and adjourned at Smethwick Coroners Court. The hearing was told that the security guard had rushed to the loading bay after an alarm went off at the centre.

The guard saw the delivery vehicle parked up and found Mr Pickering, 34, of Chepstow Road, slumped beside it with his head trapped by the tailgate.

Senior coroner Mr Robin Balmain said: “CCTV images taken at the scene suggest the tailgate had become stuck and Mr Pickering was attempting to free it.” ... “At the time he was making a delivery for the company he worked for.” Mr Balmain said that a post mortem has revealed the medical cause of death to be asphyxia. But he added more information was still needed and adjourned the inquest until a later date for more inquiries to be made. A date was not set for when the inquest will resume.

Environmental officers from Dudley Council launched an investigation immediately after Mr Pickering’s death. The authority has refused to comment further until this has been fully completed. Officers have been assisted by officials from Home Bargains, which uses the bay off King Street.

It was originally believed that Mr Pickering had been crushed by a metal shutter at the loading bay. The loading area remained sealed off throughout last Tuesday as the investigation into what happened got under way.

It was reopened again by the following morning. Police confirmed at the time they were not investigating the matter but said they had been called out to the loading bay where a man had been found with serious injuries. Both shoppers and business owners at the shopping precinct were left shocked and saddened by what had happened to Mr Pickering. Following his death, Councillor Tracy Wood, cabinet member for environment and culture, said: “Our thoughts are very much with his family at this time.”

Lorry Driver Killed in Reversing Vehicle Crushing Accident

A Romsey firm in the UK was fined £65,000 for a health and safety breech after an accident in which a lorry driver was crushed to death.

Adam Millichip, 27, was delivering sheet metal to the Wessex Lift Company in Budds Lane when he was crushed after walking into the gap between his vehicle and a fork-lift truck that was unloading it, Winchester Crown Court heard.

The prosecution said Wessex Lifts had not done a risk assessment of its roadside fork-lift truck unloading procedure and did not have a written unloading procedure for roadside operations.

The firm admitted guilt on the basis that these failures played a part in the accident, but were not a significant cause of Mr Millichip’s death.

The company was also ordered by judge, Recorder Christopher Parker, QC, to pay £60,000 costs.

Quentin Hunt, prosecuting, said Mr Millichip, from Tenbury Wells, who worked for Worcester-based David Curnock Ltd, decided to unload on the roadside rather than reverse his articulated lorry into the loading bay, which had become an increasingly frequent practice.

The court heard how, on November 16, 2007, fork-lift truck driver Michael Hett was unloading a pallet and as he reversed, took his foot off the accelerator and the forklift rolled forwards on the uneven road surface.

In panic, Mr Hett attempted to brake, but pressed the accelerator instead and the fork-lift went forwards into Mr Millichip.

Mr Hunt said Mr Hett and Mr Millichip’s actions were contributory factors.

Wessex Lift Company Ltd pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to discharge its duty under Section Three of the Health and Safety Act 1974 by failing to ensure that people not in their employment were not exposed to risks to their health and safety.

Mark Balysz, mitigating, said the company had robust safety measures and that even if the failures had been remedied, the accident could still have happened.

He said it had deeply affected the factory’s 70 staff, and all fork-lift drivers were trained.

Mr Balysz added that the roadside was not that different from the loading bay, where a risk assessment had been carried out.

Mr Millichip’s family said that their lives had been on hold since the accident and that they wanted to make sure this sort of thing never happened again. His mother, Sue, said: “We feel we got justice for Adam. Nothing’s going to bring him back and it won’t ease our pain.”

She added that the accident had “shattered so many lives”, including that of Adam’s nine-year-old son, Luke.

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.

Morrison Suspended a Health and Safety Officer

Housing contractor Morrison has suspended one of its health and safety officers after he was filmed falling off a ladder.

A YouTube video (now removed by the original user, but shown below) of Paul Cavanagh attempts to demonstrate the effectiveness of a safety harness. The clip shows the unfortunate Mr Cavanagh explaining to colleagues how the harness will stop them reaching the ground in the event of a fall. He dons a hard hat and steps sideways off the ladder, dangling briefly before attempting to regain his footing. At this point the ladder and Mr Cavanagh collapse sideways over a garden fence. His colleagues, who appear to have been recording the events, rush to his assistance and find him unhurt.

Morrison, which looks after the repairs and maintenance of 500,000 UK homes, has suspended Mr Cavanagh pending the outcome of an investigation into the incident.

A spokesperson said: ‘Having reviewed the video ourselves it appears that a number of fundamental errors were made by this individual, which resulted in the accident taking place. ‘These errors suggest that a number of our standard health and safety protocols were not followed and as a consequence we had no option but to instigate a suspension pending a full internal investigation. ‘It would be improper for us to speculate any further on the outcome of this investigation until it has been concluded.’

The man’s safety instruction broke rules in the safety book. Crucially he had forgotten to secure the ladder, which proved his undoing and brought him down to the ground with a bump.

Gateshead Housing Company, which owns the home where the incident took place, said: ‘We have asked our contractors, Morrison plc for an explanation of the circumstances that led to an amateur video of staff training being posted on a social media site. ‘We would like to reassure all customers that our contractors will continue to carry out thousands of repairs a week for us in a safe and timely manner.’

Boy killed at a grocery store loading bay

6 August 2011 - A 7-year-old boy was killed this morning as he bicycled near the Albertson’s grocery store on Artesia Boulevard in North Redondo Beach. A truck making a delivery accidentally ran over the boy near the store’s loading bay.

According to police reports, at about 10:28 a.m. an Albertsons truck was backing into the bay when the driver sensed something wrong. Redondo Beach Police Department Sgt. Shawn Freeman said that the driver stopped his vehicle and jumped out to take a look when he discovered the boy and his bicycle pinned under the truck.

“He thought, ‘You know, something is not quite right,’” Freeman said. “He gets out to look and unfortunately discovers this 7-year-old boy under the truck.”

A 911 call was made immediately and paramedics quckly transported the boy to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. No charges have been made and police are investigating the matter as an accident.

“It’s a horrible, tragic accident for the family, for that truck driver, for the store, and for everyone around that neighborhood,” Freeman said. “Especially the family, obviously – this poor family is going to have to deal with the loss of a 7-year-old boy.”

The loading bay is located on the north side of the store, near the surrounding residential neighborhood.

Police did not release the boy’s name. Investigators are conducting an independent review to determine exactly how the accident happened.

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.

Firm fined £150,000 for serious HGV reversing injury

2 August 2011. A parcel delivery company has been fined £150,000 after an employee was seriously injured by a heavy goods vehicle, in an accident at work. Twenty two year old Simon Mason, of Romford, in Essex, was working at the Tufnells Parcels Express, warehouse in West Horndon near Brentwood, when a reversing articulated HGV, crushed his skull against a loading bay wall.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive revealed that Mr. Mason was working the nightshift at the warehouse and was preparing to unload the vehicle as it reversed into a loading bay.

When the trailer stopped moving the warehouse porter noticed it needed to be straightened up but as he leaned behind the trailer to shout instructions to the driver it continued reversing crushing the man’s skull. Mr. Mason suffered a serious head injury in the accident which required months of care and several operations, he has since returned to work but still suffers the long term ill affects if his injuries.

Tufnells Parcels Express Ltd, whose head office is located at Shepcote Lane, in Sheffield, was fined £150,000 and ordered to pay costs totalling £19,000 after admitting a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act, at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Last year alone 530 workers suffered serious personal injury and 17 lost their lives after being involved with a moving vehicle in an accident at work.

Trailer Landing Legs - How They Work

The hand wound trailer landing legs are a telescopic type operating on the screw jack principle. The leg comprises a length of hollow section which forms the fixed upper section and a second length which telescopes inside it to form a retractable lower section.

The legs are lowered or raised manually by winding with a handle attached to a drive shaft. This is at the near side of the semi-trailer. The drive is transmitted to both legs by a cross shaft which in turn drives a vertical screw within the leg via gears.

Safe Use of Pallet Trucks

A Pallet Truck

A warehouse pallet truck is a piece of equipment that allows us to lift and move palleted loads around the warehouse without having to use a fork lift truck. A pallet truck operates using a hydraulic pump, this pump raises the forks of the truck so that when placed under a pallet its weight is lifted from the floor surface. We activate the hydraulic pump by pumping up and down on the handle bar, this is why some people also call a pallet truck a pump truck.

What loads should not be carried on a Pallet truck?
• Tubes – Why? Would roll off when pallet truck begins to move.
• Lengths – Why? If longer than the pallet truck would be difficult to manoeuvre around aisles as there would be hanging over
• Engines or other unpalletised components – Why? Potential to leak oil or slip off truck. NB – These items must be placed onto a pallet for transportation.
• Loose boxes – Why? These often fall between the gaps in the forks causing a sudden stopping and also damaging customers goods

How to use the Pallet truck safely
• Facing the truck, with the truck now under the pallet, grip handle firmly – both hands must be used to grip handle.
• Gently push operating lever down until it clicks into position and then begin to pump the handle up and down, thus raising the load.
• With the load raised, put both hands on the handle tightly and very slowly attempt to move the load – this is to test the weight of the load.

What if the load is too heavy?
• Arms, legs and back muscle would naturally go taut to brace against load
• If too heavy you should use another lifting tool e.g. a forklift truck.

If load weight is okay
• Move forward – walking slowly at first to get a feel for the load before you move into normal walking pace.

Carbon Monoxide Exposure

Carbon monoxide exposure from light and heavy goods vehicles and powered goods handling equipment, such as forklifts, presents a serious health risk to employees who work on loading bays. To eliminate or reduce exposure to the gas take the following steps: Instruct gas powered forklift truck drivers to turn off their engines when parked. Consider instead using electric powered fork lifts. Goods vehicle engines must be switched off when parked and bay doors closed until the vehicle is safely on the loading bay. Install a carbon monoxide alarm and test it regularly. Use local exhaust ventilation to remove carbon monoxide. And, make sure there is enough ventilation to remove carbon monoxide even when doors and windows are shut.

Alcohol Policy

Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999

While for many people, drinking alcohol is a positive part of life and does not cause any problems, the misuse of alcohol can lead to reduced productivity, taking time off work, and accidents at work. Employers should adopt an alcohol policy, in consultation with their staff. This should include matters such as:

• how the organisation expects employees to limit their drinking;
• how problem drinking will be recognised and help offered; and
• at what point and in what circumstances you will treat an employee's drinking as a matter for discipline rather than as a health problem.

Some employers have decided to adopt alcohol screening as part of their alcohol policy. If you think you want to do the same, think very carefully about what you want screening to do, and what you will do with the information it generates. Screening by itself will never be the complete answer to problems caused by alcohol misuse.

Lock Out Procedures - Machinery

There have been experiences where workers have been injured by machines starting up whilst they are carrying out repair work. It is extremely important that employers have 'lock out' procedures in place to prevent any risk of machines being started whilst maintenance is being carried out;

Safe work practices:

• Employers should provide written safe work procedures for all workers who work on or around equipment and machinery.
• Do not service equipment or machinery until all parts and attachments have been locked out and secured against inadvertent movement.
• Ensure that employees have safe and proper access and egress to equipment and machinery before servicing that equipment or machinery.
• Do not wear loose clothing when working on or around machinery or equipment.

Keep loading docks dry

Water on the loading dock creates a hazardous situation for employees. It can also destroy merchandise. Water damage most commonly occurs when rain or melting snow flows onto the trailer bed and dock leveller, off the roof of trailers. The use rain diversion seals can be a cost-effective way to prevent water infiltration. These seals keep the building operator from having to re-lay the loading bay approach or rebuild the dock face to keep employees and goods dry. Your company should be in a position to want to provide good protection against the elements. However, as with most loading dock equipment, the equipment must be able to withstand repeated uses under a variety of weather and loading conditions. Any manufacturer offering any increase in longevity of the dock seals over their competitors should therefore be something to consider.

Loading Bay Lamps

Most trailers are not equipped with internal lighting, so it’s a good idea to fit dock lights to improve visibility. Otherwise, operatives entering the vehicle from a brightly lit warehouse can struggle to adjust to the change in conditions and may not see potential hazards, causing injury to themselves or potentially damaging goods. The more useful types of lamps are those that are mounted on an arm which pivots at the wall and in the centre. They then can be parked against the wall of the loading bay when not in use.

Double Decked Trailers

Given the economic conditions, uncertain outlook for energy prices and the importance of recognising green issues, the loading bay could see some important changes gathering momentum, particularly in the food retailing sector as the leading retailers take more fixed double deckers to heart. Some companies, like Boots, are committed to full scale conversion of its distribution fleet to double deck trailers. Investment in double-deck trailers is vital as it comes with several advantages; it can carry up to double the cargo to the same destination saving on manpower, man-hours, fuel and running costs.

The volume-constraint can be relaxed by enlarging the vehicle, in most cases vertically. This is only beneficial, however, for loads composed of products that can be stacked to a greater height. Where ‘stackability’ is limited, the insertion of an upper deck can achieve a much greater increase in vehicle loading. In some sectors, the increasing fragility of the product and weakening of packaging material is limiting the height to which it can be stacked. The evolution of the passenger bus illustrates the potential advantages of splitting a vehicle horizontally through the addition of a second deck. In some cases, the full benefits of double-decking can be obtained without any increase in vehicle dimensions. With some products and handling systems, it is more efficient to combine the addition of a double-deck with some enlargement of the vehicle body.

Health and Safety Regulations: These regulations have restricted the height to which pallets can be stacked to minimise the risk of injury to loading bay operatives during loading and unloading. This again, however, has the effect of reducing the amount of freight that can be carried on each square metre of deck area.

Yard Pot Holes

Pot holes and other defects in the yards of industrial facilities such as warehouses and distribution centres caused by the recent freezing winter could lead to significant damage to forklift trucks working in those areas. Untreated pot holes also present health and safety issues. Deep pot holes could potentially tip forklifts over.

Potholes form because over time asphalt surfaces eventually crack. These cracks allow snow and rainwater to seep into the underlying dirt and gravel. During cold winter conditions, this water freezes and expands. As a result some of the dirt and gravel is pushed out, leaving a hole in the yard surface when the water eventually melts and the asphalt layer collapses.

There are no shortages of pot hole repair kits available on the internet. Anyone with a yard area that has suffered damage over the winter should invest in one as soon as possible and get the repair done before your forklift truck fleet is damaged, or worse one of your employees are involved in an accident that is a result of driving a forklift over a pot hole.

Portable Ladder Safety

Portable ladders are such common, simple tools that it's easy to become complacent about ladder safety. But many employees are injured using ladders each year, mainly due to a lack of attention to safety procedures.

• Are all ladders in good condition, joints between steps and side rails tight, all hardware and fittings securely attached and moveable parts operating freely without binding or undue play? 
• Are nonslip safety feet on all ladders except stepladders? 
• Are ladder rungs and steps free of grease and oil? 
• Are employees prohibited from placing a ladder in front of doors opening toward the ladder except when the door is blocked open, locked or guarded? 
• Are employees prohibited from placing ladders on boxes, barrels or other unstable bases to obtain additional height?
• Are employees instructed to face the ladder when ascending/descending? 
• Are employees prohibited from using ladders that are broken or missing steps, rungs, or have broken side rails or other faulty equipment? 
• Are employees instructed not to use the top step of ordinary stepladders as a step? 
• When portable rung ladders are used to gain access to elevated platforms, roofs and the like, does the ladder always extend at least a metre above the elevated surface? 
• Are portable metal ladders legibly marked with signs reading "CAUTION -- Do Not Use Around Electrical Equipment" or similar wording?