Worker falls from Forklift Truck

A worker of a carpentry and joinery company fell 11.5 feet from an unsecured stillage on the forks of a fork-lift truck in order to clean office windows at height. The company "Staircraft Group Limited" were fined on 14 June 2021 after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company failed to identify that using a stillage to lift someone on the forks of a forklift truck was unsafe.

As a result of the incident, the worker (whose name is unknown) sustained a broken leg and an injury to his elbow. HSE inspector Rebecca Whiley said: “The employee’s injuries were very serious, and he could have easily been killed. (Falling from height accounted for 24% of all employee fatalities in the year 2021/22) The incident could easily have been avoided by simply carrying out the work on appropriate equipment and enforcing safe working practices."

Forklift trucks are primarily intended for lifting materials, not people. However, they can be used with working platforms to allow people to work at height in exceptional circumstances only. When working at height using a forklift truck work platform, the platform must be inspected (there must be a pre-use check of the platform when fitted to the truck and consideration given to factors such as overturning risks) and maintained in good working order.

For more information on this story and others visit the HSE website.