DHL and JCB fined for safety failings
Both firms prosecuted after worker struck and seriously injured by overturning trolley and hydraulic rams
DHL and JCB have been fined after a worker was seriously injured by a trolley carrying hydraulic rams. Stafford Crown Court heard how the employee of DHL Services Ltd was auditing incoming deliveries of equipment in an outside yard at JCB World Headquarters, near Uttoxeter, when he was struck from behind by falling machinery weighing approximately 770kg.
At the time of the incident the machinery was being towed by an electric tug when the trolley overturned and toppled on its side, trapping the DHL employee between it and a stillage. He suffered multiple serious injuries including fractures and internal injuries.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident, which occurred on 16 October 2013, found there were a number of safety failures related to the auditing activity and the segregation between employees and vehicles using the yard area, leading to an unsafe system of work.
In addition to the injured worker, the investigation also identified that employees of JCB accessed this area as pedestrians when vehicles were operating.
DHL pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and were fined £266,000 and ordered to pay costs of £23,370. JCB pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and were fined £375,000 and ordered to pay costs of £37,235.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector David Brassington said: ‘The dangers of failing to provide effective segregation between pedestrians and vehicles are well known. Both of these companies were well versed in transport risk management and both fell well below the required standard in ensuring that such risks were effectively managed in this area.
‘These failings allowed a pedestrian worker into a busy area where vehicles were coming and going, and as a result the worker sustained serious injuries from which he has still not recovered.’
