A leading wholesaler of industrial fasteners has been fined £300,000, with £7,424 costs, after a forklift truck crushed a team leader's leg at its warehouse in Stone, Staffordshire. The fine represents 11.4% of the most recent pre-tax profit of the company, Hexstone. The incident occurred on 28 September 2016 at Hexstone's Owlett-Jaton warehouse on the Stone Business Park. The team leader, Debra Thorpe, was returning on foot from the toilets on the warehouse floor to her workplace on the mezzanine floor when the vehicle struck her. The forklift truck was travelling forwards and Ms Thorpe was emerging from the end of an aisle that was perpendicular to the direction of travel of the truck. Ms Thorpe spent four weeks in hospital, required 13 operations and a metal plate in her leg, skin grafts and therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder, and has been left with a permanent disability.
展开▼
