Legal News

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has successfully prosecuted a company which makes stage scenery for London theatres and sets for fashion shows, after a carpenter suffered skull and leg injuries when scenery fell from a fork-lift truck and pinned him to the ground.

The accident happened in October 2012 at the premises of Souvenir Scenic Studios in Southwark, southeast London.

The unnamed 35-year-old worker from Stoke Newington in north London had worked for the studios as a carpenter for more than two years at the time of the accident.

The HSE investigation discovered that the workplace accident had occurred as the result of insufficient planning for lifting a section of fibreglass cladding for a mock log cabin. The heavy mock log cabin was intended to fit on a wheeled base unit made up of three sections – and the set was being loaded onto a lorry for delivery to the West End’s Adelphi Theatre for a production of ‘The Bodyguard’ at the time of the accident.

The largest section was loaded onto the lorry using the fork-lift without incident. However, when one of the two sections weighing 300g each was lifted on the fork-lift, it had not been secured adequately and toppled off the forks of the truck and onto the carpenter, pinning him to the ground.

He sustained a fractured skull and leg fracture in the accident, but made a full recovery and returned to work at the scenery studios within a month.

On Wednesday (13/11/13) at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Souvenir Scenic Studios of Belmont Business Park in Durham admitted a single breach of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998. The company was fined £3,500 and ordered to pay £2,033 costs.

After the hearing HSE inspector John Crookes said:

“Safety with forklift trucks is dependent on proper planning and the selection of the right lifting accessories.

“If the need arises to lift something excessively heavy or awkwardly shaped, firms must ensure their employees don’t go ahead until they have all the correct equipment they need to do it safely. This case highlights the need to properly plan and supervise lifting tasks.

“This worker was fortunate to make a full recovery, but the weight of these loads – 300 to 600kg – means that this could easily have had fatal or life-changing consequences.”

Legal advice about accidents at work

Construction, waste recycling and agriculture are three of the most dangerous professions for workers because working at height is often involved, as well as lifting heavy loads and operating heavy machinery.

However, fork-lift trucks can also be one of the most dangerous pieces of equipment to use as they can topple over if overloaded or if drivers are not sufficiently trained.

Using fork-lift trucks on uneven surfaces or without ensuring loads are adequately secured during lifting can also lead to life changing or fatal injuries.

Duncan Lewis is a leading personal injury firm and our personal injury solicitors can advise on accidents at work, including industrial or construction accidents, agricultural accidents, or injuries sustained at work in schools, colleges, offices, hospitals or care homes.

Contact Duncan Lewis ,a href="https://www.duncanlewis.co.uk/personalinjury.html">personal injury solicitors on 020 7923 4020.