Kent manufacturer where worker broke leg after being run over by forklift hit with £400k fine

A plastics manufacturer in Kent has been fined £400,000 after an employee was seriously injured by a forklift truck. The worker was struck by the vehicle while walking to collect materials at FloPlast Limited's site at Eurolink Business Park in Sittingbourne on July 4, 2023.

The driver of the forklift truck failed to see the worker who sustained multiple leg fractures and a dislocated ankle, requiring him to have a metal plate fitted in his left leg. Following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive, a number of measures lacking at the site were found.

It revealed FloPlast Limited had no documented safe system of work. Nobody was following the measures the firm thought were in place.

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CCTV footage showed multiple drivers and pedestrians circulating in close proximity, A site inspection by HSE found employees were not observing one way systems or following systems of work.

HSE also established that there was no system in place to monitor compliance or to remind employees and drivers of the systems of work. And it was found nobody had assessed the vehicles being used by workers to ensure they provided good visibility.

FloPlast Limited, of Eurolink Business Park, Sittingbourne, Kent, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £400,000 and ordered to pay £5,567 in costs at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court on November 14, 2024.

HSE inspector Peter Bruce said: “Poor vehicle and pedestrian segregation in the workplace is a common cause of fatal incidents and injuries. The employee in this instance suffered multiple fractures and has had to have a metal plate put into their leg which they will have for the rest of their life.

“Employers need to ensure that they have suitable measures in place to segregate out pedestrians and vehicles. This includes: the provision of safe systems of work, appropriate training procedures and systems for ensuring compliance with those measures.

“Where it is identified that employees are not following these measures, employers should consider the reasons behind this implementing further measures as appropriate to the risk.”

This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Neenu Bains and supported by HSE paralegal officer Daniel Adams.

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