The mother of a man who was killed when the forklift truck he was driving overturned, says she still feels angry as he ‘simply went to work and didn’t come home.’
The forklift driver was killed in 2019, when the forklift truck he was operating overturned at a depot in Newark.
The 35-year-old father of one, was found in the car park trapped under the roll cage of the vehicle. He had been using a counterbalance forklift truck to move waste material when it clipped a kerbstone at the edge of the roadway and overturned. He was not wearing a seatbelt.
His mum, a care assistant from Newark, said: “No mother should lose a child and for his son, he’s lost a loving father.
“As a family we have gone through all emotions, and I still feel angry as he simply went to work and didn’t come home. This should not have happened.
“He was a happy-go-lucky boy and would do anything for anyone. It’s the everyday things that remind me of him and I miss his smile and blue eyes. He’s missed so much.”
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the company failed to enforce the use of seatbelts by forklift truck operators. They should have properly risk assessed the use of forklift trucks on their premises and enforced the use of seatbelts. Instead, it was left to individuals to choose whether to wear a seatbelt or not.
At Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on 8 November, the company based at Telford Drive, Newark, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974. They were fined £500,000 and agreed to pay costs of £7,039.55.
Speaking after the hearing, the HSE inspector, said: “This tragic incident led to the avoidable death of a young man. His death could easily have been prevented if his employer had acted to identify and manage the risks involved and enforced the use of seatbelts for all forklift truck operators.”
This HSE prosecution was supported by HSE lawyers and a Paralegal Officer.
SOURCE: HSE
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