Firm fined after forklift incidentA worker still has difficulty walking after his foot was run over by a forklift truck more than a year and a half ago.
A Health and Safety Executive probe was launched after Derek Baxter from Radcliffe had several bones in his foot fractured, and suffered extensive skin, muscle and tissue damage when a forklift truck ran over his right leg, trapping his foot at All Metal Services Limited (AMS). The incident happened at the firm's warehouse on the Wingates Industrial Park in Westhoughton on September 8 2008.
Fifty-four-year-old Mr Baxter was kneeling down to measure empty pallets when he was run over at the end of an aisle.
Manchester Crown Court heard that items of stock had been left in the aisle, narrowing the route for the truck, and that there was not a separate walkway for pedestrians.
HSE Principal Inspector Alex Farnhill said: "The company has an annual turnover of more than $180 million with bases in the UK, France and China. Any organisation that size can easily afford to spend time and money on basic health and safety."
AMS, which supplies raw materials to the aerospace and defence industries, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 17 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 by failing to provide a separate walkway for pedestrians.
The company, which has its headquarters on Horton Industrial Estate in West Drayton, Greater London, was ordered to pay £4,230 towards the cost of the prosecution in addition to the fine at Manchester Crown Court on 16 April 2010.
Copyright © Press Association 2010
| | 
Back to news
Other News
Other Case Studies
|
|
