An accident claim has been filed by an Essex factory worker after he sustained serious personal injuries when a fork lift truck struck him from behind, it was recently reported.
Harwich native Jan Kaminski had been working on the Harwich Industrial Estate at the Surya Foods Factory at the time of his injuries, according to his work accident claim. The forty nine year old man of Orwell Road had been working in the factory’s rice packing department when he was struck by the fork lift truck, which ran into him from behind.
Mr Kaminski’s injuries included a broken right leg and extensive and serious bruising to both his left leg and his left knee in his personal injury at work.
Shortly after the incident, the Health and Safety Executive launched an investigation into the particulars of the case. HSE investigators discovered that fork lift trucks had been in operation in areas of the factory that had a high concentration of workers. The HSE investigation also revealed that no designated routes or segregation of the fork lift trucks had been enforced by the factory, resulting in pedestrians being placed in an inherently unsafe environment.
After the HSE successfully prosecuted Surya Rice Ltd for being in breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act, the firm entered a guilty plea and was given a £9,000 fine for its role in Mr Kaminski’s injuries. The factory was also ordered to pay court costs of £3,214 by Colchester Magistrates’ Court.
In the wake of the hearing, one HSE inspector stated that the incident not only could have been avoided but should never have occurred in the first place if Surya Rice Ltd had managed the interaction between pedestrian workers and vehicles more carefully.