A Lincolnshire transport and storage firm – George H Kime and Co Ltd – has been prosecuted after one of its workers died while loading a metal frame onto a lorry.
Jonathan Newham, a married father-of-two from Skegness, died in hospital from head and chest injuries after the metal-wheeled chassis – also referred to as a ‘dolly’ – fell on top of him.
Lincoln Crown Court heard that Mr Newham and one of his colleagues were operating forklift trucks in order to move goods from a trailer to a second vehicle, as the trailer was needed elsewhere.
The goods were not on pallets, and though the reason is unknown, Mr Newham climbed onto a second trailer while his colleague was loading the dolly onto it.
However, it fell off the forklift truck’s prongs, trapping Mr Newham underneath and causing injuries that would later prove to be fatal.
George H Kime and Co did not do enough to ensure the safety of its employees, according to an investigation conducted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The court heard that the company should have planned for the job by making sure there was someone in charge who was qualified to organise and carry out the lift.
Neither Mr Newham nor his colleague had been trained to move loads that were not placed on pallets, meaning that they should not have been given the task responsible for causing the former’s death.
George H Kime and Co Ltd of Main Road, Wrangle, was fined £125,000 and ordered to pay £61,935 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.