Scottish feed firm fined £240,000 after driver crushed to death

East Coast Viners Animal Nutrition was fined under section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which states: “It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.”​

David Leslie, 49, of Balmedie, Scotland, worked for a feed services firm and was picking up a load from East Coast Viners’ site in Drumlithie, Stonehaven, when the incident happened on 18 March 2013.

Sequence of events​

Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard last Friday that Mr Leslie was helping with the loading operation. He was standing near the base of the grain elevator, which carries the feed up and drops it into a bulk transporter, and was ready to pull the lever in the grain bin to release the feed once it was in position. The forklift truck driver picked up the grain bin, which weighed around 600kg and held 1.5 tonnes of feed, and raised the forks to about five and a half feet to allow better visibility as he moved forwards. However, the bin started to move on the forks and although he shouted a warning, Mr Leslie was in front of the forklift when the bin fell off the forks and struck him.

He died after suffering crush injuries to his head, neck and chest.

The court heard that the accident could have been prevented had the company made sure its employees and visiting drivers were adequately protected during loading operations.

East Coast Viners of Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £240,000.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation revealed failures in work systems and in training for employees. East Coast Viners did not have in place a safe system of work for the task and operators were left to carry it out in any way they saw fit. The company had assumed the forklift training they had received from an external provider would cover safe working.

The investigation found that although the company’s site rules required visiting drivers to keep away from the loading operation until advised by the forklift driver, this was not communicated to employees or drivers. As a result employees regularly allowed visiting drivers to help loading by pulling the grain bin lever to release the feed. Supervisors were on site and aware that this was happening.

Warning signs ignored​

HSE also found that despite previous incidents of grain bins slipping from the forks of the trucks, no mechanism or device to secure them had been installed. There was also poor visibility in the loading area where the forklifts were operating.

HSE principal inspector Niall Miller said: “East Coast Viners Grain LLP’s failure to act to make sure its employees and visiting drivers were adequately protected during loading operations, has led to the tragic death of Mr Leslie, which could have been so easily prevented.​

“The issues with unsecured loads on forklift trucks and the dangers of inadequate segregation of vehicles and people are well-known in all relevant industries. Around a quarter of all workplace transport incidents involve forklift trucks, with 50% of these happening because someone is hit either by the vehicle or a falling load.​

“It was entirely foreseeable that there was a risk of death or serious injury if the grain bin fell from the forklift truck, particularly as the company was aware of previous incidents of loads falling.”​

Previous prosecution​

This is the second time in the space of four years that East Coast Viners has been prosecuted for contravening health and safety regulations. In April 2011, the firm was fined £4,000 for a breach of Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 following an incident in which a mill operative suffered head injuries when he fell from an excavator bucket in December 2009.

Since the incident the company has stopped using metal grain bins and now only uses cloth bags. It has updated its risk assessments and work procedures and now prevents visiting drivers from assisting in lifting operations. Visiting drivers are also asked to sign that they have read the site rules.