Home / Real cases / E H Hassell & Sons Limited
Trentham, Staffordshire · Birmingham Magistrates' Court
On 24 March 2025, workers at the company's site on Newstead Industrial Estate in Trentham were unloading a one-tonne metal hopper from a lorry trailer. They had improvised a way of lifting it with a forklift, and the load slid off the forks and struck a 63-year-old worker on the head. HSE found the lift was not properly planned by a competent person, the load's characteristics were not assessed and there was no safe system of work.
Injuries: The worker fractured his skull, neck and spine, broke two ribs and had a severe forehead laceration needing 17 staples and 14 stitches, spent three weeks in hospital and had seven months off work.
Regulation 8(1) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998
“Employers must ensure that lifting operations are properly planned by a competent person and carried out safely.”
Have a competent person plan every non-routine lift, including how heavy or awkward loads will be handled, before anyone improvises with a forklift.
The machines, packs and quizzes that fit this kind of site.