A Chorley company that specialise in bottling drinks has been fined GBP14,000 after a worker fell from the prongs of a moving forklift truck.

CCTV footage showed the employee, who has asked not to be named, standing on the prongs as a forklift moved a battery-operated pallet truck in and out of a container.

As the forklift began to move, the pallet truck fell from the forks. The worker attempted to hold on but also fell and found himself trapped between the prongs of the forklift.

H&A Prestige Packing were prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for failure to carry out sufficient risk assessment and for not adequately ensuring the safety of their workers.

Luckily, the employee escaped with only bruising to the hip and leg, but could well have been burned by the battery acid that leaked from the motorised pallet truck.

HSE inspector, Tracy Reed said: “The employee was lucky not to have been more seriously injured when he fell from the forklift truck.

“Rather than being a one-off incident, our investigation found that it had become commonplace for workers to stand on the prongs of moving forklift trucks.”

The company pleaded guilty to the charges in accordance with Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

In addition to the fine, H&A Prestige Packing were ordered to pay the prosecution costs of GBP6,657.

Statistics from the HSE show that, on average, 19 people per year are killed at work in incidents involving forklift trucks.