£400,000 fine after workers injured by fork lift trucks

Luton Magistrates’ Court heard of two incidents at UK Mail on 20 October 2016 and 20th March 2017. An operations administrator was struck by forklift truck whilst sorting the returned parcels and sustained a fractured skull and bleed between the skull and brain. In a separate incident, a warehouse operative was inspecting a parcel and a fork lift truck hit the left side of her body. She suffered nerve damage to her left arm and superficial leg and hip injuries.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company failed to ensure that there was effective segregation of pedestrians and vehicles. There were no pedestrian walkways for employees to navigate across the warehouse safely.

UK Mail of Buckingham Avenue, Slough pleaded guilty, to breaching section 2, of Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The company has been fined £400,000 and ordered to pay costs of £9,356.04

Speaking after the case, HSE inspector Roxanne Barker said, “The company failed to properly manage workplace transport in the warehouse area. The systems of work in place were not safe. Adequate control measures were not identified or implemented, and effective segregation was not in place, nor, even adequate workways. “The incident heightens awareness of the need to properly assess and control the risks to employees from workplace traffic movements and a reminder that these types of failures can lead to life-changing injuries.”