Cheshire farmer fined £16,000 after fatal forklift incident
The forklift that Mr Young fell from © Health and Safety Executive A Cheshire farmer has been fined £16,000 following the death of a roofer who fell from a forklift truck while attempting to repair a packing shed at his farm in Tarporley.
Denis Thornhill, aged 78, and his company, DS Thornhill (Rushton) Ltd, were sentenced following a six-week trial at Chester Crown Court, where they were found guilty of breaching health and safety regulations.
The incident occurred on 1 February 2021, when 64-year-old Mark Young, who worked as a roofer, fell from a makeshift platform while attempting to repair the roof at Moss Hall Farm.
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The court heard that Mr Young had been called to fix a roof panel and a blocked gutter.
After damaging a second panel by walking across it, he returned three days later with his son to complete the repairs.
Mr Thornhill provided a forklift truck with a potato box balanced on its forks as a means to elevate Mr Young to a height of around 16 feet.
Tragically, when Mr Young shifted his position, the potato box overbalanced, causing him to fall and sustain fatal head injuries.
Despite paramedics arriving, Mr Young could not be resuscitated and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Ian Betley described the incident as “tragic” and highlighted that it could have been easily avoided.
He said: “The forklift truck and potato box were the wrong pieces of equipment for the job and never a suitable platform for working at height.
“The work should instead have been carried out using a tower scaffold, scissor lift, or a cherry picker.”
A joint investigation by Cheshire Constabulary and the HSE found that on the day of the accident, there was no safe system of work in place and that the forklift truck had not been regularly examined.
Furthermore, Mr Thornhill lacked formal training in operating the forklift.
As a result of the findings, a prohibition notice was issued to prevent further unsafe work until proper safety measures were implemented.