Manufacturer fined £18,000 following fatal injury

A Rowley Regis manufacturer has been fined following the death of one of its employees.

Cutting Edge Trading employee Mitchell Poutney was fatally injured at the company site on Station Road during a lifting operation.

The unsupported forks and carriage of a side-loaded lift truck descended, crushing him whilst he was working underneath it in September 2019.

Mr Poutney, a father-of-one from Stourbridge was pronounced dead at the scene.

An inquest, at Black Country Coroners’ Court in September 2020, concluded his death was accidental

Now, following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), HSE found the company had failed to provide a safe system of work for unloading palletised goods using the side-loader forklift truck.

Cutting Edge Trading pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £18,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,153.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Principal Inspector Jenny Skeldon said: “This tragic incident could have easily been prevented if this employer had acted to identify and manage the risks involved and put a safe system of work in place.”