Company fined £4,500 for telehandler injury
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Leese’s was fined £4,500 and ordered to pay £818 after Andrew Grist suffered severe leg injuries
By Roger Brown
A COURT has been told how a truck driver suffered severe leg injuries when he was hit by a reversing telehandler vehicle at a waste transfer site near Exeter.
In a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution, Exeter Magistrates’ Court was told that Andrew Grist of Newton Abbot suffered a detached calf muscle, a near severed toe and broken bones in his foot, as a result of the incident at the Kenbury Wood Waste Management Centre.
Leese’s, the site operator, based in Oak Tree Place on the Matford Business Park in Exeter, was ined £4,500 and ordered to pay £818 costs.
The telehandler was one of a number of similar vehicles working on the site.
Grist had got out of his lorry, believing he had received a “thumbs up” signal from the operator of the machine emptying his vehicle. He understood the signal to mean he could leave the site and get his wagon ready to go.
It was at this point he was struck by the telehandler, which had a blindspot because of its size, and had no device, such as a reversing camera, itted in place. Grist was off work for six months following the incident. The court was told that site operators are required to make sure drivers of vehicles that might cause a risk of injury have all-round visibility.
Leese’s pleaded guilty to a breach of Regulation 28(e) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The legislation states that where a telehandler driver’s direct ield of vision is inadequate to ensure safety, the employer must provide adequate devices for improving vision “so far as is reasonably practicable”. Simon Jones, HSE Inspector, says: “This incident could easily have resulted in a fatality at the site. All employers should ensure that vehicles they provide for use by their employees do not have blindspots. Site operators should ensure that only vehicles that have had their blindspots eliminated are allowed to operate on their site.” Visibility aids are capable of providing vision to most areas to the rear and sides around a vehicle at reasonable cost. These must be kept clean and properly adjusted. Drivers and plant itters should be trained and instructed in the correct positioning of the aids on a speciic machine.
Further information on visibility while operating telehandlers can be found on the HSE website at /www.hse.gov.uk/foi/ internalops/sectors/cactus/051003.htm