News Feed
Tufnells Parcels Express Ltd of Sheffield has admitted breaching S.2.(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and has been fined £150,000 plus costs of £19,000 in connection with an industrial accident at its West Horndon, Essex, depot.
On 23rd March 2010, a 22-year old nightshift warehouse porter watched an HGV reverse into a loading bay, but as the trailer was not straight he put his head around the back of the trailer. The trailer moved backwards and trapped his head and fractured his skull.
Examination of the facts surrounding the accident led HSE to take the view that Tufnells had not assessed, controlled, or properly managed the risks arising from vehicle and equipment movements and had failed to provide a safe system of work.
An HSE official commented: "Working with moving vehicles is a high risk activity which causes significant numbers of major and fatal injuries every year in this country. Tufnells is well aware of these risks and this horrific incident in which a young man could have lost his life would have been avoided had the company’s senior management ensured such risks were properly managed in all of its depots
This firm could have put in place a physical separation between the porters, moving vehicles and the loading bays and a safe way for porters and drivers to communicate with each other. None of these measures were evident and so a worker was seriously hurt for no good reason."
