Two firms have been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and fined a total of £100,000 after a maintenance worker died after an accident at a factory in Macclesfield.
United Crane Services Ltd and Millennium Rubber International Ltd were fined after 60-year-old maintenance worker Martin Denton fell from the forks of a forklift truck onto a concrete floor. He later died in hospital from the head injuries he sustained after the four foot drop.
Following an investigation by HSE officials, it was found that Millennium Rubber had regularly used containers on forklift trucks to lift workers, even though they are not safe to use for that purpose. United Crane Services was also found to have allowed Mr Denton to be lifted in a container which was designed for lifting materials rather than people.
Millennium Rubber was fined £90,000 plus £21,411 in costs, whilst United Crane Services was handed a £10,000 and ordered to pay court costs of £5,000. It is also likely that one or both of these companies will have to rely on employers’ liability insurance to pay compensation to the victim’s family over the tragic incident.