Worker fell 20ft from moving forklift

A trainee electrician was seriously injured after falling from the raised forks of a forklift, when the vehicle overturned.

Plymouth Crown Court heard that CL Electrical Solutions had been contracted to change a number of light bulbs on the ceiling of a warehouse in Plympton, Devon. The facility was owned by HT Gardner Distribution Ltd, which had agreed to provide the contractor with a forklift truck and a driver to do the job.

On 7 August, Tom Davis, 18, who was a trainee electrician at CL Electrical Solutions, accompanied a colleague to the site to carry out the work. When they arrived they were told by HT Gardner Distribution that no forklift truck driver was available but they were given permission to drive the vehicle themselves, despite neither of them being qualified. They were also provided with a metal cage to attach to the truck so it could be used as a platform. ??

Having attached the cage to the vehicle’s forks with lorry strops, Mr Davis stepped inside the cage and was raised up to the lights. His colleague then drove him across the warehouse while the forks were fully extended so he could access each light. But as the vehicle was being manoeuvred it became unbalanced and overturned. Mr Davis fell 20 feet to the ground while trapped inside the cage. He injured his pelvis in two places and sustained facial injuries. He was unable to return to work for six months.

HSE inspector, Helena Allum, told SHP that both companies had failed to indentify that the method of work was unsuitable. The cage had not been regularly inspected and was unfit for use, as it had rust and the door would not close. The men also failed to use a proprietary locking system to attach the cage to the vehicle, which would have safely secured it in place.
She explained that the men should have been provided with either a cherrypicker or a MEWP to do the work, and they should not have been allowed to drive a forklift without proper training.
Said inspector Allum: “Changing light bulbs is such a common job the safety implications can be overlooked, but in high roofed workplaces, falls from height are a very real and serious risk.

"This job was not properly risk-assessed and, as a result, both companies chose, the wrong equipment for the job and came up with a loose system of work. The two young trainees, inexperienced in work at height and not trained to use a forklift, were then left to get on with it.

"Any work at height needs to properly planned, the right equipment chosen and workers given sufficient training to do the job correctly and properly supervised." ??A Prohibition Notice was issued to HT Gardner Distribution Ltd on 13 August, which required it to stop using the cage as it was in an irreparable condition.

Both companies appeared in court on 14 June where CL Electrical Solutions pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974. It was fined £7000 and ordered to pay £5000 towards costs. HT Gardner Distribution pleaded guilty to breaching s3(1) of the same Act and was fined £20,000, plus £11,300 in costs.