Fraudulent papers and broken back lead to prosecution of 21-year old

Date:

23 October 2009

Release No:

SCO/182/09

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) today reminded operators of telescopic fork lift trucks to ensure they are operated correctly after a 21-year-old fork lift truck driver was prosecuted following a serious accident in which a banksman suffered a broken back and ankle.

Damon Alex McLachlan, 21, of Rothesay, Isle of Bute, was fined £500 today (Friday 23 October, 2009) at Livingston Sheriff Court after he pled guilty to a charge under Section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

The case comes after a serious incident on 10 October 2007 at a house construction site in Livingston, West Lothian in which McLachlan operated telehandling machinery without the stabilisers deployed. This led to the machine losing its three tonne load, crushing and seriously injuring the banksman.

The court heard that McLachlan was employed at the site as a telehandler operator for only a few weeks and the evidence he had provided of his training and experience was partly fraudulent. At the time of the incident, McLachlan was using his machine to unload part of wooden house kit from a lorry and place it on the ground where it was needed for joiners to erect.

HSE Inspector Bruce Monaghan said:

"This was a tragic incident which was entirely foreseeable. Failure to deploy the stabilisers was a serious omission particularly so because the banksman was obviously nearby. Operators must adhere to correct operating procedures otherwise serious incidents will result.

"Additionally, this incident underlines the fact that employers and users of forklift trucks must check the experience and qualifications of those they employ in a particularly searching and careful way. Companies should be alert to the possibility that documentation presented as evidence of training, experience and competence can be invalid if obtained on the basis of false or misleading information."

Notes to editors

1. Section 7 (a) states: "It shall be the duty of every employee while at work to take reasonable care for the health & safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work."
2. Section 7 (b) states: "It shall be the duty of every employee while at work as regards any duty or requirement imposed on his employer or any other person by or under any of the relevant statutory provisions to co - operate with him so far as is necessary to enable that duty or requirement to be performed or complied with."

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