A farm owner in Cheshire has been fined £16,000 after a roofer died following a fall from a forklift truck at his farm, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Mark Young, a 64-year-old roofing specialist, was working at Moss Hall Farm in February 2021 when he fell around 5 metres from a forklift while he was repairing the roof of a packing shed.
He was fixing the roof while standing in a potato box balanced on the forks of the forklift truck. According to the HSE, the box became unbalanced and he fell, sustaining serious head injuries. Young died at the scene.
In its joint investigation with Cheshire Constabulary, the HSE concluded that the forklift should not have been used. It added that type of machine is “never a suitable platform for working at height”.
HSE inspector Ian Betley said the work should have been carried out using a tower scaffold, scissor lift or cherry picker.
The HSE statement said Chester Crown Court found Denis Thornhill, who owns the farm, had breached health and safety regulations. The 78-year-old was cleared of gross negligence manslaughter.
The HSE said Young had been asked to repair a roof panel and fix a blocked gutter on the packing shed. But he damaged a roof panel while walking across the roof, so a second roof panel needed replacing.
Young came back three days later with his son to complete the work, and asked to be raised up to do it. The court heard Thornhill arrived with the forklift truck, with the potato box balancing on its forks. According to the HSE, as Young moved to one side of the potato box, it overbalanced and he fell.
The investigation by the HSE and Cheshire Constabulary found Thornhill had not implemented a safe system for working at height and that unsuitable equipment was used. The HSE statement added the potato box did not have the required safety features for a non-integrated work platform and that it was not secured to prevent it from overbalancing.
The HSE statement also concluded that the forklift had not been inspected frequently enough, was unsuitable for lifting people, and that Thornhill was not formally trained to operate it.
According to the statement, Thornhill was found guilty of breaching Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, by virtue of 37(1) of the act, and was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,000.
His firm, D.S. Thornhill (Rushton) Ltd of Moss Hall Farm, Moss Hall Lane, Tarporley, Cheshire was found guilty of breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,000.
Betley said it was a “tragic incident that could so easily have been avoided”.
He added: “The forklift truck and potato box were the wrong pieces of equipment for the job and never a suitable platform for working at height.
“All companies have a legal duty to ensure the safety of workers they employ or who carry out work for them. If that had happened in this case, then Mark’s life wouldn’t have been lost.”
The construction industry remains the most dangerous sector in terms of onsite deaths. In the year to 31 March 2024, 51 construction workers died in accidents – 37 per cent of all the industries surveyed.
Despite that, Construction News revealed earlier this year there had been a sharp drop in the number of HSE investigations into falls from height.
