Wigan firm fined after woman impaled by forklift truck

The company, Profile Patterns, has now been hit by a £20,000 fine after admitting it breached health and safety regulations.

Manchester magistrates heard that both staff members were badly injured, suffering fractures in the incident at the plant in Makerfield Way, Ince, on July 29 2019 when the forklift collided with a skip.

Experts have since said that the accident was wholly avoidable if proper procedures had been taught and followed.

The hearing was told that three workers at the carpet sample book manufacturer had been emptying waste from plastic bins and were using the forklift truck to raise the bins to a height that let a worker at either side of the truck to tip the containers into a skip manually.

When one of the bins became trapped between the side of the skip and the forks, the driver of the forklift climbed on top of the skip to free the bin while the other two staff members remained standing at either side of the truck. Another employee was asked to reverse the forklift to aid the release of the bin.

But after reversing, the forklift then moved forward, crashing into the skip and causing the employee on top of the skip to fall.

One of the workers standing at the side of the truck became impaled by her right arm by the fork.

Both were taken to hospital for treatment to fractures.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Profile Patterns Limited did not take effective measures to ensure the health and safety of employees in relation to the risks arising from the use and operation of forklifts.

The company failed to implement a safe system of work and provide adequate instruction and training to employees.

It was established that tipping bins into the skip in this way was normal working practice that had taken place over a considerable length of time, throughout which employees were placed at significant risk.

Profile Patterns pleaded guilty to breaching sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. It was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £238.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Emily Osborne said: “The risk of injury from this unsafe working practice was foreseeable and the incident could so easily have been avoided.

“Profile Patterns Limited should have put in place a number of safety measures including appropriate segregation of vehicles and pedestrians and a safe system of work for emptying the bins.

“Those in control of work also have a responsibility to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to their workers in order to carry out work safely.”

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