Forklift truck accident claims
The statistics make for grim reading: every six weeks someone is killed and many more suffer injuries in forklift related incidents.
And it’s not just the people operating the forklift truck who are affected; two-thirds of those hospitalised through forklift accidents are pedestrians.
No Win No Fee Forklift Truck Accident Claims
What do guidelines say?
The Health and Safety Executive gives guidance on forklift truck accidents, providing information on the common causes and ways of preventing this type of accident. Employers have a responsibility to ensure that drivers are adequately trained, that the areas where forklifts are used are sufficiently wide enough and have ample overhead clearance. If pedestrians are allowed into those areas, then risk assessments should be carried out and the areas should be clearly marked by the use of barriers or signs. Your employer owes you a duty of care to provide a safe working environment. If you have been involved in one of the many forklift truck accidents that happen each year, then your employer may have breached their duty of care towards you.
Who can claim?
- Workers on or near building sites
- Members of the public visiting DIY stores, garden centres, warehouses or retail premises
How forklift accidents happen
Common incidences include:
- Trucks toppling over because of overloading
- Uneven surfaces or potholes
- Collisions between trucks
- Loads falling off and causing injury
- Trucks colliding with walls
- Shelves and other objects creating a danger to the operator and anyone in the vicinity
- Driving the forklift too fast
- The forklift truck driver himself steps off the truck and into a pothole or falls because of an uneven floor.
What you need to know
- To drive a forklift truck in the UK a person is obliged by law to undergo the correct training.
- Workplaces using forklift trucks should also supply the operators with the correct Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as fluorescent jackets, hard hats and safety boots.
- Forklift trucks should be inspected and maintained in a safe condition.
- There should be separation of vehicular and pedestrian routes.
- Protective barriers should be located just beyond entrances and exits to prevent pedestrians stepping out into the path of a passing forklift truck.
- The vehicular routes for forklifts should be clearly marked.
- Forklift trucks should give way and precedence to pedestrians.
