A UK law firm has issued a warning to all employees who work around forklifts.

Winston Solicitors LLP issued the warning last week after a Scottish firm was fined GBP100,000 (USD163,106) for the June 2009 death of one of its employees. George Hardie, was hit by a forklift because the driver did not see him. The forklift was badly loaded, with containers stacked on top of each other, obstructing the driver's view.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the incident and found that the company, Vion Foods, had not conducted a proper risk assessment on the movement of containers around its yard. The firm was also found not to have a safe traffic management system or a procedure for keeping pedestrians out of the way of vehicles.

Forklifts are responsible for almost 2,000 reported incidents every year, with accidents leading to seven fatalities a year. It is estimated that one in 10 of all physical injuries occurring at the workplace are due to forklift-related accidents.

Winston partner Martin Nolan says: "Employees can receive compensation payments in cases where an employer is proven to be negligent or it is shown that he has breached a statutory duty where proof of negligence is not required in order to take legal action."

According to the law firm, companies that flout the laws are usually guilty of breaching section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which says that it is the duty of every employer to ensure "so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees".