Profile Patterns

A Wigan textile firm, Profile Patterns, has been fined GBP20,000 (USD28,000) after two staff members were injured in a forklift accident.

Manchester magistrates heard that both staff members were badly injured, suffering fractures in the incident at the plant in Makerfield Way, Ince, on 29 July 2019, when the forklift collided with a skip.

Experts have since said that the accident would have been wholly avoidable if proper procedures had been taught and followed, according to Wigan Today.

The hearing was told that three workers at the carpet sample book manufacturer had been emptying waste from plastic bins and were using the forklift truck to raise the bins to a height to let a worker at either side of the truck tip the containers into a skip manually.

When one of the bins became trapped between the side of the skip and the forks, the driver of the forklift climbed on top of the skip to free the bin while the other two staff members remained standing at either side of the truck. Another employee was asked to reverse the forklift to aid the release of the bin.

But after reversing, the forklift then moved forward, crashing into the skip and causing the employee on top of the skip to fall.

One of the workers standing at the side of the truck had her right arm impaled by the fork.

Both were taken to hospital for treatment to fractures.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Profile Patterns Limited did not take effective measures to ensure the health and safety of employees in relation to the risks arising from the use and operation of forklifts.

The company failed to implement a safe system of work and provide adequate instruction and training to employees.

Profile Patterns pleaded guilty to breaching sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.