Tuesday 14 March 2017

Man loses leg due to concrete block falling from forklift truck. Company fined £300.000.

Buchan Concrete Solutions Ltd., a producer of concrete blocks was fined £300,000 after an employee had to have a leg amputated.
The circumstances were:
  • On 30 June 2015,  large concrete blocks were being unloaded onto the outside yard area of Buchan's site.
  • The unloading operation was not properly planned, 
  • The forklift truck’s weight capacity of five tonnes was not enough to be able to cope with the weight of the blocks. 
  • There was no system of work to excluded people from being in the vicinity while the concrete blocks were being lifted.
  • The man was removing wooden struts that the concrete blocks had been resting on, while the concrete blocks were unloaded by a forklift. 
  • One of the blocks slipped off from the forklift, and fell onto the worker.
  • He was taken to hospital for treatment to serious crush injuries to one of his legs. The leg was eventually amputated from the shin down.

The HSE inspector said: “The injured man suffered life-changing injuries. This incident was entirely avoidable, had the lifting operations been properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out in a safe manner.”

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