HSE warns of danger of moving vehicles in workplace after worker loses leg

Date:

18 September 2008

Release No:

EM HSE 769/08

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned employers they must have systems in place for ensuring pedestrians and vehicles can move safely in the workplace, after a Kirkby in Ashfield woman lost her leg when she was hit by a reversing forklift while working for a Derby company.

Northampton-based international distributors NYK Logistics (UK) Limited of Cheaney Drive, was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £5,941 costs at Derby Crown Court today after pleading guilty to contravening regulations 4(1) and 17 (1) of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992.

On 24 March 2006, at NYK's premises on Burton Road in Findern, Derby, 32-year-old administrative worker Lisa Ramos, from Kirkby in Ashfield was carrying paperwork across a warehouse when she was struck by a 2.5 tonne forklift truck reversing out of a loading bay. The injuries sustained were so severe that she had to have her left leg amputated below the knee.

Andrew Turner, HSE Principal Inspector for Derbyshire, said,:

"Although the company had identified that pedestrians were at risk from moving vehicles, and taken some steps to try to minimise this risk, it had become commonplace for pedestrians to walk through areas where forklift trucks manoeuvred and reversed.

Ms Ramos could have been killed as a result of this incident and has suffered a very serious injury, but it could have been avoided if NYK had taken a few simple measures such as ensuring Ms Ramos' duties didn't involve her having to walk across a vehicle loading area or putting barriers in place to prevent pedestrian access.

Workplace transport is one of the biggest causes of fatal and major injuries at work. Employers must ensure that workplaces are organised so pedestrians and vehicles can move around the workplace safely. When employers have arrangements in place to ensure that vehicles and pedestrians can circulate safely, these arrangements must be monitored to make sure that they are effective."

Notes to editors

1. Regulation 17(1) of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 states: "Every workplace shall be organised in such a way that pedestrians and vehicles can circulate in a safe manner."
2. Regulation 4(1) of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 states: "Every employer shall ensure that every workplace, modification, extension or conversion which is under his control and where any of his employees works complies with any requirement of these Regulations..."
3. The maximum fine for a breach of the regulations in the Crown Court is an unlimited fine.
4. For further information on managing workplace transport risks visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/workplacetransport/sitelayout.htm

Public enquiries:

HSE's InfoLine: 0845 3450055
Caerphilly Business Park, Caerphilly CF83 3GG

Press enquiries (Journalists only):

0115 971 2781

HSE information and press releases can be accessed on the Internet: http://www.hse.gov.uk

Issued on behalf of HSE by COI NEWS AND PR