It doesn’t stack up
Industry has been warned to review stacking and storage procedures following a near fatal accident and a prosecution by the HSE. What did this case identify as potential hazards and how can you avoid a similar incident?
A common occurrence
“Man crushed and killed by load”, or “Innocent bystander severely injured by collapsed materials”. Unfortunately headlines such as this won’t go away and as a result it’s prompted the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) to warn industry to review its procedures for stacking metal in particular, but we’re sure they’ll be looking at the storage areas of all materials. So, in light of a potential HSE visit specifically looking at stacking and storage procedures, what can you learn from this case and what should you ensure is in place?
A near fatal incident
CMK (Treatments) Ltd, (CMK) was fined following an accident that nearly resulted in the death of one of their employees. Peter Finan (F) used a forklift truck to stack four bundles of aluminium into a 3.6 metre high tower. However, the bundles were bound in crane straps and should have been left individually on the floor, as it was unsafe to stack them on top of each other. F was worried about the straps making the load unstable, so he removed them.
What happened?
As F left the stacks to return to his forklift, three bundles toppled over, pinning him underneath. He suffered multiple fractures to his leg, but if he’d been slightly closer to the stack or if one end hadn’t fallen onto one of the forks, he’d have been killed. CMK was fined £10,000 under s.2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and ordered to pay £15,035 in costs. The court heard that CMK had failed to carry out a risk assessment on the on-site storage of aluminium.
A change in process
Stacking the materials into 3.6 metre high towers was a safe process, but 18 months before the incident occurred the way in which the material arrived on site changed. The aluminium had been delivered in metal stillages (support frames), but the supplier revised this, binding it in cardboard instead. This meant that the stacks shouldn’t have been higher than 1.5 metres. This is where the problem arose; although someone in the company new of the change, they neglected to inform their staff to change practices accordingly.
Tip. To avoid being found negligent for non-completion of a risk assessment, you’ll need to ensure any you have are regularly re-visited and checked to ensure they reflect what’s actually happening.
Note. Not keeping risk assessments up-to-date is an area in which numerous companies get caught out, especially in the event of an accident. There’s no need to change them just for the sake of it, but to comply with the Management of Heath and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 you’ll need to revise them when there is a significant change to a process.
Who needs to know?
Simple answer, everyone involved. Don’t change things and then fail to inform your staff.
Tip. To avoid a scenario where an employee says “You didn’t tell me”, issue everyone involved in the process with a copy of the assessment and get them to sign a statement saying they’ve read and agreed the content and will follow the revised safe systems.
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