Lee Benham died on 4th November 2021 while attempting to move a scissor lift at Nationwide Platform’s workshop in Liskeard, Cornwall.
The 45-year-old, who was from southeast London but lived in Liskeard, was working for Nationwide, part of the French group Loxam, as an LGV driver when the incident occurred. He was operating a scissor lift from the ground to clear an access path so he could move machinery out of the workshop and load it onto his lorry in the yard.
The moveable controls on the scissor lift were in such a position that their direction was inverted, and when Lee Benham operated the machine, it came towards him and crushed him against a static scissor lift.
A Health & Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into the incident found that Nationwide Platforms Limited failed to sufficiently consider the dangers of operating machinery via moveable controls, and failed to provide appropriate monitoring and supervision during the morning when drivers were loading machinery onto their lorries.
Nationwide Platforms Limited, of Central Park, Lutterworth, Leicestershire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £900,000 and ordered to pay £12,405 in costs at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court on 21st December 2023.
HSE inspector Simon Jones said: “This was a tragic incident and a stark reminder to businesses to be thorough in their risk assessment. The situation which led to Lee’s death would not have arisen had appropriate control measures been in place.”
The International Powered Access Federation’s 2022 Global Safety Report noted: “The data does indicate that certain parts of day-to-day rental activity, such as loading and unloading machines, is indeed more risky than the industry should consider acceptable.”
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