Haddenham company fined after employee was hospitalised due to forklift truck accident

PDX Logistics Ltd, which has since changed its name to Mobile People Powered Logistics, was fined for failing to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of its employees.

The business is based at Haddenham Business Park and in 2022 a staff member suffered serious leg injuries at the site. At a hearing last Monday (2 December), Oxford Magistrates Court heard that a man was hurt while he was in the process of changing a lightbulb on one of the company’s lorries.

He went to check whether the light change had worked at the front of the lorry when another employee, who was reversing a fork-lift truck caught him with the back of the truck, causing him to fall and trapping him underneath the vehicle. This left the employee with serious leg injuries that required several weeks worth of hospital treatment.

District Judge Rana imposed a fine of £30,000 and ordered the company to pay full prosecution costs of £7,297 to Bucks Council, plus a £2,000 surcharge. She was concerned that significant health and safety failures had existed for a prolonged period. However, she accepted that the company had co-operated fully with the investigation and had put in place additional health and safety measures following the accident.

After the incident Bucks Council sent officers to the site, the authority has revealed that they found no safe systems of work to separate pedestrians from vehicles throughout the site. A council spokesperson said: “Although some signage warned that fork-lifts were operating, there were no designated pedestrian walkways or barriers to prevent pedestrians from entering areas where forklifts and other vehicles were operating. They found that staff had not received appropriate health and safety training, and the company did not provide any evidence that relevant health and safety training had taken place. Health and safety documents including risk-assessments and policies, had not been reviewed or updated for many years, despite changes in ownership and management of the company. An Improvement Notice was served requiring the company to review and update risk assessments.”

Councillor Mark Winn said: “This case highlights the critical importance of maintaining rigorous health and safety standards in the workplace. Employers have a duty to protect their employees, and we will not hesitate to take action against those who fail to do so.

“The serious injuries sustained by the employee in this incident were entirely preventable, and it is unacceptable that such basic safety measures were not in place. We hope this prosecution serves as a stark reminder to all businesses in Buckinghamshire that the health and safety of their workforce must always be a top priority.”

Bucks Council proved the business had committed an offence under Section 2 of The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, specifically failing to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of his employees.