Work accident claim experts recently reported that a lorry driver from Caerphilly was run over by a forklift truck, leading to the amputation of part of his leg as a result of the incident.
According to information passed along by personal injury compensation specialists familiar with the accident at work, Robert Deverell, a lorry driver from Risca, had been employed by Llanelli-based firm Dyfed Steels Ltd at the time of the accident. Mr Deverell had been sent to pick up a shipment consisting of steel beams at the Cardiff Docks from Cargo Services (UK) Limited, but as the last beam was being loaded into his lorry, Mr Deverell was knocked down as the forklift truck reversed and ran over his right leg.
The limb had been damaged so severely in the accident that surgical experts were unable to save it. As a result Mr Deverell’s leg was amputated below the knee, and the lorry driver is still recovering from both the amputation procedure and also from the broken wrist he sustained during the incident as well.
The Health and Safety Executive was alerted following the accident, and HSE investigators discovered that drivers that visited Cargo Services premises were not kept separate from the forklift trucks that were being operated on the worksite. It was also uncovered that the reversing arm of the forklift truck that had struck and injured Mr Deverell so severely was defective as well.
The Cardiff-based firm, located on Queen Alexandra Dock, was called before Cardiff Crown Court by the HSE, where a successful prosecution led to Cargo Services (UK) Limited to being given a fine of £110,000.