Firms Warned About the Importance of Heavy Goods Training

A freight company in Leeds was recently prosecuted by the HSE, when a man working at the site of the company got killed while getting cargo off a container.

With up to £100,000 costs and £250,000 in fines to pay, Roadways Container Logistics Limited has surely landed itself in trouble. The court at Leeds found that the freight business was not following Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, among many others. It had no option but to give in to the court’s decision and plead guilty.

With the help of a bunch of cargo workers and a supervisor, Alan Fletcher was trying to unload heavy cases of glass off a container at the company’s Stourton base. The incident took place in the month of April in 2006.

Fletcher was tragically crushed to death by a huge glass case of two tonnes. The case fell on him when he was trying to stop the glass case from being unloaded, fearing it might fall and break.

It was revealed in the court that none of the employees of the company, including Fletcher, had been given any formal training for lifting chores. No assessment of the risk was carried out and there was no strategic planning done ahead of the unloading. The court was also told that the glass piece was not properly sealed.

Taking note of the hearing, Morag Irwin, who is inspector for HSE, pointed out that the hearing ought to come as a warning to those freight business firms out there. He stressed the significance of having a well-implemented safety system, especially when it comes to lifting of heavy goods.

He added that had the right steps been taken by Roadways, the accident could have been averted. The company should have put in place an effective system to minimise risk, done an extensive risk assessment and trained the employees for lifting operations.

He concluded by saying that the HSE had come out with proper guidance on this issue and that freight firms would do well to follow this guidance and not take any chances when it came to lifting of heavy goods. No representative from the freight firm was available for comment.

Article created by Editor. (info@safetynetscotland.co.uk)