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Forklift accidents, prosecutions and fines

Accidents in the UK for 2015. Updated regularly

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The really good news is that accidents involving forklift trucks in the United Kingdom have decreased over time. In the year to April 2013 there were only six fatal accidents which although too many, is much lower than the 30 annual deaths that were reported annually when I started in the forklift industry in 1970.

Some of the more recent forklift accidents that have come to my attention are listed below and I will update these on an ongoing basis. The fines seem to be getting larger! There are over a hundred older accidents described here


 

Dec 30th 2015. A landscaping company and its two directors were sentenced after Russell Meech, a 27 year old landscape gardener was killed when he fell under the wheels of a telehandler. More

Dec 2nd 2015. A Nottinghamshire pet food company has been sentenced after a worker was seriously injured when a forklift truck he was driving overturned. More

Nov 30th 2015. Construction company prosecuted after worker injured by a boom type mobile elevated working platform (MEWP) when it fell from the forks of a telehandler machine. More

Nov 19th 2015. A Wrexham firm was fined after a worker was killed when a machine weighing an estimated half a tonne fell from a pallet truck. More

Nov 17th 2015. The proprietors of a Northumberland farm were fined £5,000 plus costs after an employee suffered leg injuries after a concrete panel fell on him. More

Nov 12th 2015. An Essex haulage firm has been fined more than £20,000 after an employee was struck by a forklift truck driven by an untrained operator. More

Nov 9th 2015. A logistics company has been fined for safety failings after a driver was injured when he was hit by a pallet that fell from a fork lift truck. More

Oct 29th 2015. A company which makes body parts for lorries has been fined for safety failings after an employee was injured when unsecured panels fell on to him during lifting operations. More

Oct 20th 2015. A national recycling firm was fined after an employee was struck by a 7.5 tonne telehandler. Worker seriously injured and company fined £200,000. More

Oct 15th 2015. A logistics company was fined £20,000 after a worker was hit by a forklift truck in a busy yard and suffered head injuries. More

Oct 9th 2015. An Essex firm has been fined a total of £15,000 for repeatedly failing to have its systems on its local exhaust ventilation (LEV) system for extracting wood dust and lifting equipment on its rider operated forklift trucks thoroughly examined. More

Oct 5th 2015. An agricultural services company was fined following an incident in which two workers were injured during construction work at a farm in Goxill, north Lincolnshire. More

Sep 23rd 2015. 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. More

Sep 2nd 2015. Lack of thorough examination on a forklift truck costs farm over £10,000. More

Aug 27th 2015. A multi million pound turnover food manufacturer and one of its directors have been fined after a worker was crushed by a forklift truck at its Warwickshire factory. More

July 29th 2015. A HGV spray painting company has been fined for safety failings that led to a worker sustaining a serious fracture to his left leg. More

July 1st 2015. A London firm specialising in bespoke staircases has been sentenced for safety failings after a worker was injured when the personnel cage he was working in was knocked to the ground by an overhead crane. More

June 18th 2015. Lincolnshire forklift death costs company £187,000 in fines and costs after load fell on worker. More

June 17th 2015. Company fined after worker crushed between a forklift truck and a trailer suffering serious injuries. More

June 10th 2015. Accident caused when fork flew off forklift during incorrect operation. Worker seriously injured and company fined. More

June 5th 2015. A Leicestershire aluminium fabricator has been sentenced after a worker was crushed under a Hi-Bay order picking truck which tipped over while lifting extruder dies from storage racks. More

May 29th 2015. Construction contractor, Richard Lynch, was fined £2,000 with £1,002.80 costs at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday 21 April after he and another worker were injured. More

May 28th 2015. A Liverpool firm, Waste Away Skip Hire (Liverpool) Ltd and its director Leanne Koo have pleaded guilty at South Sefton Magistrates Court to safety failings. More

Apl 21st 2015. A Sheffield steel company has been sentenced after a catalogue of safety failings led to a 42-year-old worker being killed when he was knocked off his lorry and then crushed by a three-tonnes load of steel tubes. More

Mar 27th 2015. A waste and recycling site in Carmarthen was in such a dangerous condition that visiting health and safety inspectors had to issue eight notices to immediately halt a range of work activities. More

Mar 26th 2015. An East Yorkshire produce company has been ordered to pay more than £46,000 after two workers were seriously injured by reversing forklift trucks in separate incidents. More

Mar 25th 2015. A Rotherham-based metals business has been sentenced after it repeatedly risked workers’ lives by making them use dangerous machines notching up a shocking 31 enforcement notices for safety breaches in just three months. More

Mar 16th 2015. A Forfar metal galvanising company has been sentenced after an agency worker suffered serious leg injuries when a half-tonne A-frame slipped and fell onto him from a forklift truck. More

Mar 11th 2015. A Tameside factory worker had to have part of his left leg amputated after he was struck by an 850kg metal frame being delivered to a plant in Glossop. More

Mar 11th 2015. B and Q has been fined £65,000 plus costs by Isleworth Crown Court after a worker was crushed by a pedestrian forklift truck at Yeading store in West London. More

Mar 3rd 2015. Worker crushed by two tonne frame dropped from two forklift trucks. More

Feb 3rd 2015. A construction company has been fined after a worker suffered serious injuries when he was struck by a concrete beam that fell from a telehandler. More.

Jan 21st 2015. A Hertfordshire-based company has been fined after a worker suffered multiple injuries when he was struck by a 3.2 tonne reel of paper at its premises in Essex. More

Jan 17th 2015. Not strictly an accident but I've included this for obvious reasons. These idiots were lucky to be alive after this. It cost them £8,000 each. More

Jan 14th 2015. Company sentenced after worker died when he was crushed beneath a one tonne silo of varnish that slid from the tines of a forklift. More

Jan 7th 2015. An Ebbw Vale packaging company has been has been fined for safety failings after a delivery driver was hit by a forklift truck at its premises. More

Jan 6th 2015. A County Durham stairlift manufacturer has been prosecuted for safety failings after a delivery driver was seriously injured when he was struck by a reversing fork lift truck. More

Dec 24th 2014. A recycling company has been fined £180,000 after a worker was killed on his first day at work when the forklift truck he was driving overturned. More

17th Dec 2014. Gloucester based contractor Complete Utilities Ltd has been prosecuted for safety failings after an employee died from crushing injuries sustained at work. More

Accidents to Dec 2014. Accidents to Oct 2013. Accidents to Oct 2011. Older accidents