DHL fined 50k after HGV driver is run over by his own lorry

[TrueBlueTerrier]

DHL fined £50k after HGV driver is run over by his own lorry in Dunstable

http://www.luton-dunstable.co.uk/DHL-fi ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A COURIER firm which had a worker run over by his own lorry in Dunstable has been fined £50,000.

DHL, who also paid costs of £15,698, pleaded guilty to safety failings after a HGV driver was run over by his vehicle at a depot in Dunstable on September 4, 2012.

The unnamed 42-year-old, from Leeds, was connecting a trailer to his cab at DHL’s depot at the start of his shift when the vehicle moved.

He was run over after he tripped and fell while attempting to catch up with the cab to stop it hitting and injuring a pedestrian or nearby property.

The worker suffered life-changing injuries including five fractures to his pelvis.

He was unable to walk for six months, can no longer drive as he cannot sit for any length of time, and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, for which he is still receiving treatment.

He has been unable to work since.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which investigated the incident, found that the firm had failed to assess the risks associated with parking on uneven or sloping ground and, as a result, had not identified and implemented practicable controls or safeguards such as the use of wheel chocks and audible handbrake alarm.

HSE Inspector Emma Page said: “This was a horrific and entirely preventable injury caused by the failure of the company to recognise all hazards arising from routine operations at their depot and their duty to protect the people working there.

“The risk of large goods vehicles moving when parked on sloping ground when the brakes of the trailer are disengaged is foreseeable and referred to in a number of HSE publications.

“There was therefore no excuse for such a big employer working routinely with vehicles to ignore this risk.”

[datasaint]

Horrible accident, but you can't remove responsibility from the employee.

1, the parking brake should have been set in the cab, standard procedure.
2, when it did start moving do not attempt to reenter.

I'm sure DHL would have preferred an insurance claim for damage to property instead of a H&S lawsuit. Though I suspect the guy knew he'd be found negligent and lose his job hence why he tried to get back in.

[Lounge Lizard]

DHL may have got off lightly with £50,000.
Pub company Mitchells and Butlers were recently fined £1½ million for this http://www.mbplc.com/newsandmedia/compa ... ornchurch/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;