Aluminium recycling firm Novelis has been fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £3,365 in costs after a worker was struck by a forklift truck.
The truck was carrying a large bale of crushed aluminium cans when it hit the 43-year old man as he walked across the warehouse floor at its side in Latchford, near to Warrington.
The worker suffered damage to his ankles and feet. Novelis was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident in November 2010.
Warrington Magistrates Court was told that HSE inspectors had given Novelis notice about improving the vehicle and pedestrian segregation four months before the incident. Workers had also raised concerns about the issue.
Novelis pleaded guilty at the hearing.
HSE inspector Martin Heywood said: “Novelis received previous warnings from HSE and it own workers about how vehicles operated in the warehouse, but it failed to act on these.
“The company didn’t carry out a proper assessment of the risk, and as a result, there was no system for keeping forklift trucks away from pedestrians.
“It has since made significant improvements and forklifts can now operate safely within the warehouse. However, it’s disappointing that it took the injury of a worker for these changes to be made.”
