Forklift accidents in the UK - 2024

The really good news is that fatal accidents involving forklift trucks in the United Kingdom have decreased over time. In the year to April 2013 there were only six fatal accidents which, although too many, is much lower than the 30 annual deaths that were reported annually when I started in the forklift industry in 1970.

Some of the more recent forklift accidents that have come to my attention are listed below and I will update these on an ongoing basis.

Here is a great article that explains many things companies can do to reduce or prevent forklift truck accidents.

December 6th 2024. A plastics manufacturer in Kent has been fined £400,000 after an employee was seriously injured by a forklift truck. Read More

November 21st 2024. A construction company has been fined £160,000 after a man was killed by a telehandler at a house build site in Glasgow. Scott Bradley had been reversing the vehicle when it slid down an embankment. Read More

November 7th 2024. A company has been fined £80,000 after an employee sustained a fractured skull at its site in Glasgow. In addition to a fractured skull, the worker sustained a broken clavicle, a ripped earlobe and haematomas down his right side. Read More

October 21st 2024. A Cheshire farm owner has been fined after a man fell to his death from a forklift truck while attempting to repair the roof of a packing shed at his premises. Read More

August 22nd 2024. Two companies have been fined after a father-of-three was crushed to death by a machine whilst operating a telehandler which was used in replacing machinery. Read More

August 12th 2024. A company has been fined £160,000 after an employee lost both legs while working at its site near Warrington. A load of tiles fell off a pallet on a forklift truck. Read More

August 11th 2024. A manufacturing company based in Wolverhampton has been fined £30,000 after a welder sustained serious injuries when he was struck by a forklift truck. Read More

July 19th 2024. A housing company has been fined more than £300,000 after a driver was crushed to death by falling concrete blocks at a construction site in South Lanarkshire. Read More

May 19th 2024. Three companies have been fined after a lift truck engineer was seriously injured while working at Pirelli Tyres’ factory in Carlisle. Read More

April 30th 2024. A company has been fined more than £85,000 after a forklift operator was killed when his truck overturned due to a lorry moving. Read More

March 19th 2024. A company has been fined £380,000 after a delivery driver fell and suffered a traumatic brain injury while working at its site in Walsall. Read More

March 14th 2024. A company and its director have been sentenced following the death of an employee. Robert Czachracz was crushed against a forklift truck by two granite slabs. Read More

February 14th 2024. A company involved in fruit and vegetable production has been fined £320,000 after a man “who always put family first” was killed at a site in Burscough. Read More

January 6th 2024. A company has been fined after shocked onlookers spotted an employee precariously working from height while standing on a pallet raised by a forklift truck at Ramsgate Harbour. Read More

Older accidents>>