river was crushed between two trucks Firm fined for failing
Page 14
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
to observe safety system by separating workers and vehicles around tipping area By Roger Brown Operator: DS Smith Paper Matter: Health and safety Hearing: Manchester Crown Court DS SMITH PAPER has been fined £80,000 after a worker suffered serious injuries when he was crushed between two trucks at a recycling plant.
In a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Manchester Crown Court was told that a 61-yearold worker from Towyn, north Wales, suffered fractured ribs, a fractured right collar bone, a punctured right lung and multiple bruising when he was crushed between his own lorry and another vehicle at the firm's Severnside site in Turton Street, Bolton in February 2010.
During a four-day trial the jury was told that the worker, who asked not to be named, had emptied his load of paper and got out of his LGV to close its rear doors, using two buttons on the side of the vehicle. As he did so, another truck reversed into the warehouse through a separate doorway and trapped him between the vehicles.
There were no barriers in the tipping shed to separate vehicles entering through different doors, and there was no supervisor present to indicate whether it was safe for drivers to enter the site.
An HSE investigation found that the firm had failed to observe correct safety procedures around the tipping area.
It was common practice for two vehicles to be in the warehouse at any one time, putting drivers at risk when they had to leave their trucks. DS Smith Paper had also failed to enforce its own system for controlling entry into the tipping shed because there was not always a supervisor present.
Since the incident, the company has introduced new safety procedures, which mean only one LGV is allowed in the warehouse, and a new safety area has been introduced for pedestrians.
The company was found guilty of breaching the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 by failing to make sure the site was safe for vehicles and pedestrians. Regulation 17(1) of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 states every workplace must be organised in such a way that pedestrians and vehicles can circulate in a safe manner.
The company was also ordered to pay £49,822 in prosecution costs.
After the hearing, HSE Inspector David Norton said: "This case should serve as a lesson to other companies working with large vehicles to ensure that the correct safety procedures are in place."
Summing up The risks caused by vehicles reversing are well known yet, at the time of the incident the company regularly allowed two vehicles into the warehouse at once, without having any safety barriers in place.