Haulage firm in court following transport injury

A haulage company has been fined following an incident where a warehouse operative was injured at its business premises at Snetterton, Norfolk.HSE logo

On 22 March 2018, whilst working in Foulger Transport Limited’s hub warehouse, Martin Shepherd was struck by a moving forklift truck and knocked to the ground. Before the vehicle came to a stop Mr Shepherd’s foot became trapped under the wheel, breaking bones in the upper part of the foot.

The HSE’s investigation found that Foulger Transport Limited, a part of the Kinaxia Logistics group of companies, had failed to have in place appropriate systems to ensure that vehicles and pedestrians moved around the warehouse in a safe manner. Recent changes to the warehouse layout had not been considered in the company’s assessment of risk and the warehouse team were relied upon to work safely with each other without effective training and supervision

Foulger Transport Limited, of The Circuit, Snetterton, Norfolk pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1), by virtue of regulation 17(1),of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 and was fined £20,000 with costs of £5,724.05.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Saffron Turnell said:

“This incident could easily have been avoided had appropriate systems been put in place to suitably separate the fork lift trucks and pedestrians.”