A West Yorkshire based company have been fined £66,000 and ordered to pay £50,000 in costs after man dies whilst decanting varnish from silo into containers.

The breach of Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 occured in 2011, occurred when a silo of varnish slid from the forks of the forklift truck and toppled onto him. Investigations have shown that several safety failings occured, crucially the failure by Gardiner’s to spot risk to its workforce.

The man was decanting the varnish directly from the silo into the container via a tap as the base of the silo, which had been raised on the forks of the forklift. A combination of events led to the load sliding, including the heavy load creeping, the fact the forks had a downward tilt and the fact the valve being used frequently from below.

The company has failed to assess the risks and of the events taking place, and therefore employees were operating without a system of work in place to help employees complete their jobs safely. The court also heard that it had been dangerous for the forklift to be used to balance heavy loads for extended periods.

In addition to the death in March 2011, this was not the only incident involving a load falling from the forks, and even though readily available, safe alternatives were available these signs were not acted upon.

The health and safety executive is Britains national regulator for workplace health and safety,  which aims to reduce work related death, injury and ill health through various methods including promoting training.

If you think your employees require training, whether it be novice, experienced of refresher training, HL Training Services provide training that conforms to the requirements of the Health & Safety Commission Approved Code of Practice and Supplementary Guidance Rider operated Lift Trucks – Operator Training.

Do you want to know more about the courses we offer? For more information, contact the office on 0117 952 5625, visit our Training Courses Page or email [email protected]

Are you a big fan of HL Training and want something to remember us by? We have set up an online shop where you can buy HLTS merchandise. At the moment, we have an 8GB Lanyard with Card Holder available at only £9.99.

Take a look at the proof from the company below;

Click the image to to visit the merchandise shop.

These are in stock and available now, so what are you waiting for?

January 2015 Forklift training accreditation has changed.

Accredited forklift training now requires all candidates to be registered with a governing body.

Accredited training is required for companies whose forklift operators work on their own and clients sites and require a national certificate.

We have made an executive decision this year to remain with one governing body instead of two and have chosen ITSSAR with whom we offer forklift instructor and forklift operator training.  One of the main reasons for choosing ITSSAR is they offer accreditation for a wide range of plant, industrial forklifts and machinery.

It is not a requirement that all forklift operative require registration with a governing body which enables us to offer In house training certificated by H L Training Services which carries no extra charge and is most suited to companies whose forklift operators work inside their own company and are not required to work on client sites.

As the new year starts, we would like to introduce you to our new truck. We have a Very Narrow Aisle truck fully installed which allows you to incorporate more racking into your warehouse. In addition to our new VNA Truck, we have various courses with amazing deals throughout January.

Do you need In House Instructor training for your warehouse, or simply need and new operator (Novice) trained to our accredited standard? We have spaces available on selected courses throughout January.

VNA Conversion Course – 13th + 14th January 2015

5 Day In House Instructor Course – 12th to 16th January 2015

5 Day Counterbalance Novice Operator – 26th to 20th January 2015

If you are interested in any of these courses, please contact us on 0117 952 5625, via the contact page, or chat (during working hours).