HSE Warns of Dangers of Not Maintaining Plant Equipment After Driver's Death

A telescopic forklift truck driver has died after he was crushed
between the descending arm and side of his vehicle. Subsequently, the
HSE has warned of the danger of not maintaining plant equipment.

MB Plastics Ltd and Birse Integrated Solutions Ltd were both
prosecuted in relation to the incident which occurred in September
2003 at the Davyhulme Waste Water Treatment Works, Rivers Lane,
Trafford, Greater Manchester. The two companies were sentenced on 30th
June 2009 at Manchester Crown Court.

MB Plastics Ltd of Warrington, who employed the deceased, pleaded
guilty to an offence under health and safety legislation and was fined
£150,000 and ordered to pay costs of £24,323.

Birse Water Ltd of Cheadle Hulme, who was the principal contractor for
the project also pleaded guilty and was fined £50,000 with costs of
£41,073.

The vehicle's off side cab window usually acted as a guard, however it
had been damaged in a lifting operation five weeks previous to the
fatality, the court was told. The cab window was completely gone at
the time of the incident.

Judge Peter Lakin, commented that while there were no witnesses to the
incident, the most likely explanation is that the deceased leant out
of the cab window, coming into contact with joystick, which brought
the arm of the forklift truck down onto him.

MB Plastics Ltd was charged with failing to ensure the safety of
employees under Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act
1974, while involved in operating and working with, or in the vicinity
of a telescopic forklift truck.

Under Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Birse
Ltd was charged with failing to ensure the safety of people not in its
employment. Birse had failed to ensure that MB Plastics Ltd had
prepared suitable and sufficient risk assessments in relation to its
telescopic forklift truck operations. The court also found that Birse
had failed to adequately monitor MB Plastics, subsequently failing to
identify the cab's broken window and ensuring it was replaced.

Warren Pennington, HSE Inspector said: "This incident would have been
entirely avoidable if the proper health and safety procedures had been
followed.

"MB Plastics Ltd did not have a system in place for formal regular
inspections of the plant. As a result, the company failed to maintain
the cab window which could have saved this man's life.

"Birse, the principal contractor on the site, also had a duty to
supervise its subcontractors properly. The company had a comprehensive
management system but it was not implemented and, as a result,
something as simple as a missing window was not spotted.

"This incident emphasises how important it is that companies should
not only ensure they have the proper procedures in place - but also
ensure they are followed. We're therefore calling on employers to take
their responsibilities seriously so that future tragedies can be
avoided."

When passing sentence, Judge Lakin said: "MB had primary
responsibility for the welfare of its employees. The harsh reality of
this case is that, in relation to this contract, MB completely failed
to have any proper regard to their health and safety obligations.

This directly led to the development of an unsafe and sloppy system of
work in relation to the use of telehandlers. As a result MB's
workforce was exposed to completely unnecessary and avoidable risk.

"Birse, as principal contractors on site, failed to implement their
own systems and accordingly failed to properly monitor what MB were
doing. This lack of monitoring allowed MB's disregard for health and
safety to continue over a number of weeks. In short, Birse failed in
their supervisory role."