Death prompts telehandler warning

Date:

23 March 2010

Workers are being warned not to operate telehandlers if the right-hand side window is missing or broken, following a fatal incident.

A 36-year-old man was apparently leaning through the broken window aperture when he was crushed by the descending boom. It is the third such fatal accident in the last seven years.

The side window on telehandlers (or variable reach trucks) is designed to prevent operator access to the boom. If the glass screen is broken or missing, operators may be tempted to lean out of the window aperture, for instance to adjust a mirror, and may inadvertently lower the boom onto themselves without being able to stop it.

The Health and Safety Executive has issued a Safety Notice recommending that machines in this condition be removed from use until the window has been replaced, and reminding users of their duty to carry out daily checks of the truck which should include the condition of the cab windows.

The Safety Notice can be viewed at http://www.hse.gov.uk/safetybulletins/telehandlers.htm

For more general information on safety workplace transport, construction, agriculture and quarries visit www.hse.gov.uk

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It works to prevent death, injury and ill-health to those at work and those affected by work activities. For more information about the work of HSE, visit www.hse.gov.uk
2. Variable reach trucks are commonly found in agriculture, construction and quarries, but are also used in many other industries.
3. This is the third such fatal on a telehandler that HSE is aware of. The first occurred in 2003, the second in 2008 and the third in February 2010.
4. Telehandlers are designed to the European standard EN 1459:1998 Safety of industrial trucks - Self-propelled variable reach trucks.
5. HSE continues to work closely with industry to help it reduce the number of work-related deaths and injuries. It produces health and safety guidance for employers and machine operators, organises free health and safety awareness days, and provides information and advice through visits, by telephone and at trade shows. HSE also monitors the health and safety performance of the industry and, where necessary, takes enforcement action against employers who endanger lives.
6. HSE Safety Bulletins are released to keep industry up to date with failures in equipment, process, procedures and substances used in the workplace, and are gathered from investigations, inspections, research, advice from industry and the EU Commission.
7. There are three types of bulletin:
   • Alert - immediate and crucial
   • Notice - not immediate but within a defined timescale
   • Other information - any other information that HSE comes across through its normal activities that needs to be passed on either to a wide audience, or to a specific group or sector of industry
   For more information, visit www.hse.gov.uk/safetybulletins

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