A delivery driver for a Staffordshire brewery may file for personal injury compensation from his employer after sustaining severe injuries in an accident involving a fork lift truck.
Work accident claim specialists report that Peter Jackson, aged Sixty four, ahd been making a delivery to the Burton on Trent site of the Molson Coors Brewing Company when the incident occurred. Mr Jackson had been searching for an empty space to make his delivery when he was struck by a forklift truck, suffering fractures to both his foot and his wrist in the accident, which has rendered him incapable of returning to work for the immediate future.
Shortly after the incident in which the forklift truck struck Mr Jackson, the Health and Safety Executive launched an investigation into the brewery that revealed it had not put a safe transport system in place within the plant. This failure on the brewery’s part was compounded by the fact that an inspector for the HSE had visited the site before the incident and had advised them to do so in order to avoid any accidents or injuries.
Molson Coors Brewing Company (UK) Ltd was brought before Cannock Magistrates’ Court where it admitted to breaching the Health and Safety and Work Act. The brewer was given a fine of £31,000 and was also ordered to pay a total of £33,042 in court costs as well.
In a statement given after the court hearing, the HSE inspector that had investigated the incident remarked that the firm had neglected to understand their responsiblities. The inspector held poor management to blame for the accident, which he called an entirely preventable one.