Summary
Two horticulture employees suffered major injuries when the steel mesh cage they were working in fell from the forks of a telescopic handler. The lifting cage was not secured to the forks of the vehicle. The two employees were cutting the top off a line of conifer trees using a bow saw. When finished they shouted to the driver to lower them, but he selected forward gear instead of reverse causing the vehicle to move forward suddenly and the cage to fall almost three metres to the floor with the men still inside.
Action
The company were prosecuted under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 for using a work platform with no front edge protection that was not fastened to the forks and which was not suitable for that use. They were fined £3,500 plus costs of £796.
There have been two deaths over the past year involving falls from unsecured work platforms. One of these, in which a farm worker was killed when the potato box in which he was working fell from the forks of a telescopic handler, resulted in the farmer being prosecuted and fined £18,000 plus costs of £4,658.
Advice
When using materials handlers with work platforms you must ensure that both are suitable for the task. The materials handler must be able to have any tilt/crowd action locked off and the work platform must be securely attached to the loader forks. Operators must be suitably trained in the use of materials handlers. This is particularly important when lifting people.