IMCA informed that a logistics company has been fined after a worker was crushed while he was unloading a vehicle from a visiting delivery lorry. The company pleaded guilty, it has been fined £373,000 and ordered to pay costs of £8,333.
The incident
On 14 December 2015, an agency worker was unchaining a vehicle ramp from a delivery lorry. The lorry then moved forward with one chain still attached to the ramp, crushing the worker between the ramp and a barrier.
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Probable cause
An investigation was carried out by the UK HSE, which the following:
- Failure to fully control the risks arising from the operation of vehicle loading and unloading ramps;
- No suitably robust systems of work implemented;
- Insufficient training to allow workers to safely unload vehicles;
- There was no briefing for visiting drivers to the worksite.
As HSE inspector Tim Underwood noted:
This incident could have been avoided if the company had created a more detailed risk assessment and introduced a fully considered safe system of work. Removing the visiting lorry driver’s keys until the procedure was safely completed, is one such method which could have prevented such an occurrence.
The company pleaded guilty of breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and has been fined £373,000 and ordered to pay costs of £8,333.