Lead by better example
April 1st 2009 With the introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007,
health and safety can no longer be a 'box ticking' culture among managers. Ken Stoll,
safety, health and environment advisor for Briggs Equipment UK, advises senior
managers to take a common sense approach and review their personal accountabilities
In 2007/8 the HSE reported over 2,000
accidents involving fork lift trucks. Of
these, 622 were of 'major severity' and
10 were fatal. With the introduction of the
Corporate Manslaughter Act in April 2007,
it is even more critical that directors and
managers of companies that supply and
use materials handling equipment, take
personal accountability and demonstrate
integrity for making sure that a culture of
health and safety is prevalent in their
organisations.
Under the new Act it is no longer a
prerequisite to identify the negligence of an
individual director or senior manager in
order to prosecute the company. If the
strategic management of the company has
failed to a degree far below what can
reasonably be expected of the organisation
in the circumstances leading to the death
of an employee or member of the public,
then the company itself is liable to
prosecution.
The Act serves to complement and
reinforce the importance of full compliance
with current health and safety laws, it does
not introduce new obligations. For
companies operating in the materials
handling sector this means playing due
diligence on the systems and procedures to
avoid accidents and possible fatalities.
Previous research by Briggs Equipment*
sheds light on some of the causes of forklift
accidents and helps managers to identify
where to focus their attention.
1. Untrained operators: between 10-15%
of all accidents recorded occurred as a
direct result of trucks being operated by
untrained drivers. This is an area of
increasing risk in recessionary times as
companies might be tempted to avoid
refresher training or take on temporary
workers for cost reasons.
A company which makes grass marking
products was recently fined over £8,500 in
after an unqualified driver reversed into a
supervisor, breaking his leg.
2. Unsafe working practices: poor driving
habits, incorrect use of loads and forks and
many other everyday practices accounted
for a massive 40% of all forklift accidents.
In January, a chemical manufacturer was
fined £17,000 after a man was crushed to
death by a 1.1 ton container which slid off
the forks. Likewise, a food company was
ordered to pay a total of £25,400 after a
worker was paralysed after being crushed
by a falling load.
3. Finally poor site management, which
includes interactions with third parties,
accounted for 35-40% of forklift accidents.
Given these findings and taking into
consideration managers' responsibilities
under health and safety law, there are four
areas pertinent to the handling of
materials where directors and senior
managers might want to consider how
they manage and organise their company's
activities.
Forklift selection and maintenance
It seems pretty obvious to say, but any work
equipment brought onto site should first be
assessed for suitability, safety and
maintenance requirements. Has the
company completed a site survey in
conjunction with the fork truck supplier to
understand where the truck will work,
what operations it will be required to carry
out (weight and configuration of loads),
what hours usage per day is anticipated (to
calculate maintenance requirements) What
are the current levels of training and has
this been refreshed? What new training
may operators require to update their skills
(if a new model or indeed a completely
new product)?
Fleet size and hours of operation
Is the company's fork truck fleet at an
optimal level to meet the operational
requirements of the business? Are
operators working long hours to meet
demand, are fork trucks being overworked
(both in terms of hours usage and in terms
of the tasks they are required to perform),
are trucks lifting loads for which they are
unsuitable?
Risk assessment process
Is there a suitable and sufficient risk
assessment in place for the activities
carried out and are the necessary controls
identified by the assessment followed?
Have all the employees been trained and
instructed in the controls required to
minimise the risks identified by the
assessment?
Maintaining workplace environment
The environment in which fork trucks
operate has a major bearing on their safe
use. Consideration must be given to the
condition of the working site. Potholes in
the yard, poor lighting, lack of warning
systems/signage, lack of pedestrian
segregation from trucks, poor storage and
blocked access ways are all typical
examples of issues which can lead to
accidents.
Health and safety must be embraced at
all levels in the organisation as part of the
way of doing things. Just setting standards
is not enough. Companies need to 'walk
the talk' to ensure that health and safety is
being properly managed on the ground. More articles from Briggs Equipment UK Ltd: | 
