Recycling operator sentenced over forklift driver death
Ellesmere Port-based Recresco Ltd fined £180,000 after forklift worker is crushed to death
A GLASS recycling firm has been fined £180,000 after a forklift truck driver was tragically crushed to death on his first day at work. Ian Aliski, 29, an agency worker, was using the forklift at Recresco Ltd’s glass recycling plant in Manisty Wharf, Ellesmere Port, on 26 April 2010 when the vehicle overturned, crushing him to death.
The recycling firm was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found that forklift drivers regularly had to work in an area that was often covered in waste materials, which prevented them from turning their vehicles safely.
On the day of the incident, Mr Aliski was moving waste material from the production area to a storage shed when the forklift truck became unstable on the uneven surface and overturned. Liverpool Crown Court was told that Mr Aliski was not wearing a seatbelt and there was no company policy in place to ensure seatbelts were worn.
HSE’s investigation also found that the forklift trucks in use at the plant were not suitable for operation on uneven surfaces or over loose material found on the site.
Alternative vehicles, such as four-wheel-drive, all-terrain shovel loaders, could have been used and were already in use elsewhere on the site. Since the incident, Recresco use these vehicles to move all the waste material on site and it is now company policy for seatbelts to be worn at all times in all vehicles.
As well as the £180,000 fine, the company was ordered to pay £38,693 in costs after pleading guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act etc1974 on 17 December 2014.
HSE inspector Martin Paren commented: ‘Ian was just a few hours into his first day at work for Recresco Ltd when this tragic incident occurred. Our investigation revealed a series of failures at the plant, with forklift trucks being used in an area that was completely unsuitable because of the uneven surface created by waste material scattered around the floor. There was also no policy in place for the use of seatbelts.
‘Sadly it was entirely foreseeable that someone was at risk of being badly injured or killed. If the company had taken some simple measures to reduce the risks, such as using the all-terrain vehicles in use elsewhere on the site, then Ian’s tragic death could have been avoided.’
