Preventing Forklift Truck Accidents at Work

How Common Are Forklift Truck Accidents?

According to figures from the Health and Safety Executive, there are an average of 8,000 forklift truck accidents every year.

Forklift trucks are involved in roughly a quarter of all workplace transport accidents in the UK, and more than half of those killed or injured in forklift truck accidents are on foot.

More than 1,300 people are admitted to hospital with serious forklift truck injuries every year, and the numbers are rising.

What Are The Most Common Causes of Forklift Truck Accidents?

There are a number of reasons why forklift accidents can happen at work, some of the most common include:

• user error – this could be failing to notice another person, object or vehicle nearby and colliding with them
• insufficient training and supervision
• lack of marked or designated traffic routes
• uneven surfaces
• overloaded pallets and unsecured loads
• poor maintenance of equipment

This is by no means an exhaustive list, and regardless of the circumstances surrounding a forklift accident, the effects on a person’s life can be devastating. Some of the most common claims for injuries we've seen resulting from forklift accidents include:

• brain injury claims
• bone fracture claims
• spinal injury claims
• amputation claims

Your employer has a duty of care to you and must take reasonable measures to prevent you or any of your colleagues from being injured in a workplace accident. If you suffer an injury at work as a result of your employer’s negligence, you could be entitled to claim compensation.

Who is Responsible for a Forklift Truck Accident?

Employers have a legal duty to provide and maintain a safe system of work.

In workplaces where there is heavy machinery present, like warehouses, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 place duties on people and companies to operate, control, maintain and inspect equipment.

Employers can be prosecuted and fined if they’re found to have breached any of these regulations and failed to keep their workers safe.

In some cases, there may be more than one business involved. For example, an accident may happen when one firm is accepting or unloading a delivery brought in by a supplier. If the supplier or courier failed to securely load each pallet and this resulted in an accident, it may be necessary to pursue a claim against several organisations.

If you suffer from such an injury, make sure to find out the details of the company that delivered the item and report the accident to your employer. Additionally, you should  make sure that your employer reports the accident to the other firm.

What Safety Measures Should Employers Take?

There are multiple measures employers should take to reduce the chances of forklift truck accidents happening in the workplace. For example, they should:

• maintain a clean, well-organised and tidy workplace
• carry out rigorous risk assessments and update them regularly to identify material risks
• provide adequate training to staff, so they’re aware of risks and how to deal with them
• have adequate supervision of staff in place, along with a system of inspecting and maintaining machinery
• put up warning signs close to known hazards, such as uneven surfaces and dangerous machinery, and ensure safe walkways and routes in busy warehouses are clearly marked
• make sure forklift drivers wear a seatbelt, hard hat and hi-vis vest, take regular breaks and drive at appropriate speeds
• provide personal protective equipment, such as hard hats, goggles and gloves
• maintain safe loading and unloading processes, and use lifting equipment most appropriate for the task
• make sure all lifting equipment is clearly marked with the safe working load limit

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published an Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) and guidance called Rider Operated Lift Trucks: Operator Training and Safe Use

This sets the minimum standard of basic training people should receive before they are allowed to operate certain types of lift truck - even if they only operate the equipment occasionally. It also provides detailed guidance about how they can meet this standard.

The Approved Code of Practice covers stacking rider operated lift trucks, including articulated steering trucks. 'Rider operated' means any truck that can carry an operator and includes trucks controlled from both seated and stand on positions. As such, your employer should make sure that operators have been trained to the standards it sets out.

If an employer was negligent and failed to keep you safe at work and you’re injured as a result, you could claim compensation for your injuries. Here at Simpson Millar, our team of expert Workplace Solicitors deal with cases like this on a daily basis. We can help if you get in touch with our team of Serious Injury Solicitors for a free claims assessment and we’ll be happy to discuss your situation with you.

We usually act on a No Win, No Fee basis – just ask us for details about this. Once we have assessed your claim, we will be able to provide you with advice.

We appreciate that the prospect of proceeding with a personal injury claim can seem daunting or intimidating, especially if you’ve never been through the process before. That’s why we’re here to help and provide you with advice every step of the way. We believe that no one should be injured when they go to work but if it happens to you, we are here for you and we want to help.

Our team of Workplace Solicitors are dedicated to helping people who have been injured through no fault of their own in order to get the care, support and rehabilitation that you need. This means that they’re in the best possible position to help rebuild your life by getting you the help that you need and the support you need along the way.

Our team can be contacted on 0800 260 5010 or alternatively you can request a call back.