A potato farmer was fined £40,000 after an employee sustained multiple fractures falling from a makeshift forklift platform.
Staff at Alan Twatt (Potatoes) Limited asked an employee to install an electric cable through four barns, at a height of around four metres.
A potato box lifted by a forklift was used as a working platform, however the worker fell approximately 2.5 – 3.5 metres during the cable fitting, suffering a head injury and multiple fractures.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the potato box was inherently unsafe and should not have been used with the forklift truck in any circumstances. Further, the company had failed to follow their own procedures in relation to safe working at height.
Alan Twatt (Potatoes) Limited of Commerce House, South Street, Elgin, Moray pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 Banff and has been fined £40,000.
Speaking after the hearing HSE inspector, Norman Schouten said: “This incident could so easily have been avoided by using the correct equipment, such as a scissor lift. A potato box or other makeshift equipment is never a suitable platform for working at height.”
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