Logistics company fined £265,000 for health and safety failings
A LICHFIELD logistics company has been fined £265,000 after workers were injured in incidents on consecutive days.
Rudolph & Hellmann Automotive were responsible for injuries at the Oxford Mini plant in October 2014.
A 39 year-old sustained crush injuries to his left foot when he was hit by a forklift truck, then a day later a 55 year-old sustained severe injuries including internal bleeding, a fractured pelvis and punctured lungs after a large metal box became unstable and fell from the forks of a truck striking and pinning him underneath. He was walking along a marked pedestrian walkway at the time of the incident.
Health and Safety Executive inspector Kelly Nichols said: “The risks from workplace transport in warehouses and the required control measures to manage those risks are well known and publicised in HSE publications. It is really disappointing to find Rudolph & Hellmann Automotive Limited (RHA) failing to manage and control the risks associated with the lifting and movement of vehicles and goods in a busy workplace.
“Sadly, in this case, the prosecution shows that RHA’s management of forklift truck driving operations and risk control measures failed which exposed employees to danger from falling loads and from being struck by a vehicle. These serious injuries were preventable.”
The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and was fined £265,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £14,943.30.
