The Whiterose Scaffolding employee's internal injuries were so severe that he now lives with chronic pain and has significant mobility problems.
The Leeds-based company, which notes on its website that it employs "a dedicated team of CSCS (Construction Skills Certification Scheme) trained scaffolders", failed to provide employees with training on how to safely operate the vehicle and failed also to provide adequate supervision. The company did not monitor its drivers to ensure forklift trucks were operated only by trained drivers and that they used safe driving techniques.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the worker, who was not wearing a seatbelt at the time, was driving the forklift truck in the company's scaffolding yard on Holbeck Lane in Leeds when the vehicle overturned in October 2016.
Whiterose Scaffolding pleaded guilty to breaching s 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act at Leeds Magistrates' Court. The company was fined £54,270 and must pay £8,000 costs.
HSE inspector Andrea Jones said that the employee's injuries could have been fatal. "Other employees were put at risk as a result of the company allowing forklift trucks to be used without the appropriate training and monitoring of drivers," she added.