A haulage company has been fined £100,000 after a worker fell from a loading bay and died.
The 63-year-old, from Hungary, had been preparing a load of trailers in his lorry ahead of departure from the company’s site. The load of trailers were due to be delivered to a site in Germany. He was not employed by the company.
The man was trying to reach the top of his lorry, with one foot on the loading bay and the other on the back of another lorry and then fell approximately 1.25 metres onto the concrete floor below when the adjacent lorry was driven away.
He sustained severe head injuries and died in hospital.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into this incident found the company had carried out a risk assessment that identified the risk from falls and introduced control measures, but these had not been used in practice. There was a lack of supervision and monitoring by the company to check that these control measures were being used by its staff. Additionally, insufficient consideration had been given to visiting drivers, particularly when English is not their first language.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay £8,400.50 in costs.
The HSE’s inspector said: “Any fall can have devastating consequences – as has been shown in this case of a man working far from home. Haulage by nature means drivers who do not always speak English can visit sites – they must be protected.”
“This incident could so easily have been avoided had the company simply ensured the control measures and safe working practices were followed and that visiting drivers were informed of the site’s safety rules.”
Source: HSE