Death of forklift truck driver: steel fabrication company fined £135,000

Death of forklift truck operator: £135,000 fine

Health and Safety Executive v Severfield (UK) Ltd (2016) Teesside Crown Court, April 13

Severfield (UK) Ltd, a steel fabrication company, has been fined following the death of a forklift truck operator.

Significant points of the case

• In March 2013 Kelvin McGibbon was reversing a forklift truck at the company’s site in North Yorkshire. The truck struck some steps and overturned. McGibbon was not wearing a seatbelt. He suffered fatal crush injuries.

• Severfield had failed to manage forklift truck driving operations. The company had not enforced the wearing of seatbelts and had not controlled the speed at which some operators drove their trucks.

The company was fined £135,000 plus £46,000 costs for a non-causative breach of regulation 5, Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999. This regulation states, in summary, that employers must have effective arrangements in place to plan, organise, control, monitor and review systems and procedures which are designed to cover health and safety at work.