Food processor fined after forklift truck accident
A food processing company has been ordered to pay ₤12,214 for flouting health and safety laws after a worker was injured by a forklift truck at its UK plant.
Surya Rice Ltd, trading as Surya Foods, was fined ₤9,000 and ordered to pay ₤3,214 in legal costs, following an accident at its Harwich factory in July 2010 left a packer and machine operator with a fractured leg.
Colchester Magistrates Court heard that Jan Kaminski was working in the rice packing area when he was struck from behind by a forklift truck carrying a full pallet of boxed rice flour. The 49-year-old suffered a fracture to his right leg and extensive and severe bruising to his left leg and knee.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) uncovered several breaches of regulations; including the movement of flour on pallets in the packing area was unsafe as it involved the unnecessary use of a fork lift truck in a heavily congested work area – which limited the driver’s vision. The area also did not have properly segregated routes to separate pedestrians and vehicles.
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