Safety Alert: Work at Height £100,000 fine after worker at height stood on pallet raised by forklift

 

A recent UK prosecution spotlights the vital importance of safely planning and supervising work at height.

 

A recent UK prosecution spotlights the vital importance of safely planning and supervising work at height. Our industry has an agile, problem-solving attitude baked into it but that always needs to be built on a foundation of clear assessment and understanding of risk. In this case a team of 3 workers were removing work equipment from the deck of a boat in a harbour’s slipway. Previously erected scaffolding had been removed. The workers raised a pallet to the deck with a forklift truck and used it as a mobile platform to remove items from the boat. A worker was then witnessed climbing from the side of the vessel, beneath the guard rails, and onto the pallet with a heavy, motorised pressure washer. The pressure washer was then lowered to the ground.
The UK regulator noted that the work at height solution used was not planned or properly supervised and was fundamentally flawed calling it a “terrifying debacle”. The employer pleaded guilty and was fined. Thankfully, nobody was injured.
It is worth noting that around the world, work at height is one of the top four potentially fatal consequence workplace risks in our industry. If members have not conducted a review of their work at height risks and controls recently, it would be worthwhile considering putting one into your upcoming health and safety programme.

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ICHCA International is committed to helping industry to learn lessons fast, learn them once and make sure that they stay learnt. This information is intended to provide all organisations in the cargo supply chain with the opportunity to consider the events and to review and adapt their own health and safety control measures to proactively prevent future incidents.

We are grateful to Health & Safety Executive  for providing details and for raising awareness. We acknowledge their commitment to sharing learning to benefit others. If you have similar operations, please share this information with managers, operatives and any potentially affected third parties as appropriate. Please also review any of your relevant operations for similar hazardous conditions, risks, and controls. Learning content like this is highly valuable as it is based on real-world experience. We encourage everyone with publishable information about incidents to send it to us, so that we can raise awareness across the whole industry. Please contact us at secretariat@ichca.com; sharing your insight could save a life or prevent injury.