Skip to main content
IOSH Magazine: Safety, Health and Wellbeing in the world of work - return to the homepage IOSH Magaazine logo
  • Visit IOSH Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit @ioshmagazine on Twitter
  • Visit IOSH Magazine on LinkedIn
Gender equality
Practice meets perfect
May/June 2023 issue

Main navigation

  • Home
    • Browse previous issues
    • Member accolades
    • Member tributes
  • Health
    • Mental health and wellbeing
      • Bullying
      • Drugs and alcohol
      • Mental health
      • Stress
      • Wellbeing
    • Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)
      • Ergonomics
      • Manual handling
      • Vibration
    • Occupational cancer
      • Asbestos
      • Hazardous substances
      • Radiation
  • Safety
    • Incident management
      • Chemicals
      • Electricity
      • Fire
      • First aid
      • Slips and trips
    • Non-health related fatalities
      • Road safety
      • Work at height
    • Risk management
      • Confined spaces
      • Disability
      • Legionella
      • Lifting operations
      • Lone workers
      • Noise
      • Personal protective equipment
      • Violence at work
      • Work equipment
      • Workplace transport
  • Management
    • Human factors
      • Accident reduction
      • Behavioural safety
      • Control of contractors
      • Migrant workers
      • Older workers
      • Reporting
      • Safe systems of work
      • Sickness absence
      • Young workers
    • Leadership and management
      • Employee involvement
      • Management systems
    • Management standards
      • ISO 45001
      • ISO 45003
    • Planning
      • Assurance
      • Compliance
      • Emergency planning
      • Insurance
    • Rehabilitation
      • Personal injury
      • Return to work
    • Strategy
      • Corporate governance
      • Performance/results
      • Regulation/enforcement
      • Reputation
    • Sustainability
      • Human capital and Vision Zero
  • Skills
    • Communication
    • Personal performance
      • Achieving Fellowship
      • Career development
      • Competencies
      • Personal development
      • Professional skills
      • Qualifications
    • Stakeholder management
    • Working with others
      • Leadership
      • Future Leaders
  • Jobs
  • Covid-19
  • Knowledge Bank
    • Back to basics
    • Book club
    • Infographics
    • Podcast
    • Reports
    • Webinars
    • Videos
  • Products & Services
  • Management
    • Human factors
      • Sickness absence
      • Accident reduction
      • Behavioural safety
      • Control of contractors
      • Migrant workers
      • Older workers
      • Reporting
      • Safe systems of work
      • Young workers
    • Leadership and management
      • Employee involvement
      • Leadership
      • Management systems
    • Management standards
      • ISO 45001
      • ISO 45003
    • Planning
      • Assurance
      • Compliance
      • Emergency planning
      • Insurance
    • Strategy
      • Corporate governance
      • Performance/results
      • Regulation/enforcement
      • Reputation
    • Sustainability
      • Human capital and Vision Zero
  • Health
    • COVID-19
    • Mental health and wellbeing
      • Bullying
      • Drugs and alcohol
      • Mental health
      • Stress
      • Wellbeing
    • Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)
      • Ergonomics
      • Manual handling
      • Vibration
    • Occupational cancer
      • Asbestos
      • Hazardous substances
      • Radiation
  • Safety
    • Incident management
      • Chemicals
      • Electricity
      • Fire
      • First aid
      • Slips and trips
    • Non-health related fatalities
      • Road safety
      • Work at height
    • Risk management
      • Confined spaces
      • Disability
      • Legionella
      • Lifting operations
      • Lone workers
      • Noise
      • Personal protective equipment
      • Violence at work
      • Work equipment
      • Workplace transport
  • Skills
    • Communication
    • Personal performance
      • Career development
      • Competencies
      • Personal development
      • Qualifications
      • Professional skills
      • Achieving Fellowship
    • Stakeholder management
    • Working with others
      • Leadership
      • Future Leaders
  • Transport and logistics
  • Third sector
  • Retail
  • Mining and quarrying
  • Rail
  • Rehabilitation
    • Personal injury
    • Return to work
  • Utilities
  • Manufacturing and engineering
  • Construction
  • Sector: IOSH Branch
    • Sector: Northern Ireland
    • Sector: Midland
    • Sector: Merseyside
    • Sector: Manchester and North West Districts
    • Sector: Ireland East
    • Sector: Ireland
    • Sector: Edinburgh
    • Sector: Desmond-South Munster
    • Sector: Qatar
    • Sector: Oman
    • Singapore
    • Sector: South Coast
    • Sector: South Wales
    • Sector: Thames Valley
    • Sector: Tyne and Wear
    • Sector: UAE
    • Sector: West of Scotland
    • Sector: Yorkshire
  • Healthcare
  • Sector: Fire
  • Sector: Financial/general services
  • Sector: Energy
  • Education
  • Sector: Communications and media
  • Chemicals
  • Sector: Central government
  • Catering and leisure
  • Agriculture and forestry
  • Sector: Local government
  • Sector: IOSH Group
    • Sector: Financial Services
    • Sector: Sports Grounds and Events
    • Rural industries
    • Sector: railway
    • Public Services
    • Sector: Offshore
    • Sector: Hazardous Industries
    • Sector: Food and Drink
    • Sector: Fire Risk Management
    • Education
    • Construction
    • Sector: Aviation and Aerospace
Quick links:
  • Home
  • Categories
  • Topics
  • Safety
  • Risk management
  • Lone workers
Safe systems of work
Workplace transport
Retail
News

*UPDATE* Aldi fined £1m after substituting shadowing for pallet truck training

Open-access content Thursday 17th August 2017
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

Bruce Hunterfox was in the second week of his new job as a delivery driver on 7 November 2013 when the accident happened. He was manoeuvring an electric-powered pallet truck into a tight space in the food chiller at the discount supermarket chain's Somercotes store in Alfreton, Derbyshire.

He was preparing to move pallets to create room for a new delivery when the truck rolled backwards over his foot, fracturing all his toes. He was off work for six months after having two toes surgically amputated and his foot restructured using pins.

The investigation by Amber Valley Borough Council (AVBC), which brought the prosecution, found that Aldi did not offer standardised training programmes to new pallet truck operators. Instead the workers were expected to shadow experienced members of the team for a week before working alone.

During the seven days when Hunterfox was observing another Aldi delivery driver, he did not visit the Somercotes store and had never operated the Jungheinrich EJD 220 electric pedestrian stacker he was using when the accident happened.

Natalie Osei, litigation solicitor at AVBC, said: "We established that there wasn't any formal training for dangerous items like pallet trucks.

"The model [Hunterfox] was using that day was larger, had a bigger turning circle, was able to go faster and took longer to stop."

She explained that the operator thought he had stopped the pallet truck when it rolled backwards, but it was still running.

Hunterfox has returned to work, but his injuries "have left him with pain that will have repercussions in years to come and can be considered life-changing", the council said.

Osei said Aldi has overhauled its training procedures and now provides all its agency workers and staff with structured guidance on operating electric pallet trucks.

During the sentencing at Derby Crown Court, Judge Peter Cooke noted that previous incidents should have prompted Aldi to improve operator training sooner.

Osei told IOSH Magazine there had been "a few others over a period of years" but the judge was referring specifically to an incident in February 2013 when a pallet truck operator fractured his foot at a store in Essex.

In May that year, a health and safety officer for the local authority issued Aldi with a warning and referred it to the HSE guide, Rider-operated Lift Trucks: operator training and safe use (bit.ly/2w3ENOl).

After the November incident, however, AVBC's investigation revealed that the company had failed to improve its training procedures and on 7 April 2014 served an improvement notice.

Aldi pleaded guilty to breaching ss 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act in December last year. It was sentenced on 14 July and fined £1m. (See table below for the judge's application of the sentencing guidelines.)

AVBC's portfolio holder for housing and public health, David Taylor, said: "The level of fine reflects the seriousness of the failings within the company.

"This investigation and outcome will hopefully result in a renewed focus by Aldi to ensure that standards are maintained to ensure employees receive adequate protection from risk of injury."

Last year the company was fined £100,000 after an unsecured smoking shelter at its Darlington distribution centre blew over and struck an employee who was on a break.

Application of the sentencing guidelines

Culpability:

Medium

Seriousness of harm risked:

Level B

Likelihood of harm:

High

Harm category:

2

Size of the organisation:

Very large but judge stayed within the large business category due to low profit margin (2.2%)

Turnover:

£7.7bn

Starting point for fine:

£1.5m

Mitigation:

One-third discount for early guilty plea

Aggravating features:

One previous conviction and other previous incidents

Penalty:

£1m plus £70,000 costs

You may also be interested in...

Image credit: ©Business Visual/REX/Shutterstock

 Injured Aldi worker authorised to drive pallet truck without training

Tuesday 25th July 2017
In his second week of a new job that involved using a powered pallet truck to transport goods to stores, the driver sustained fractures to all the toes on one foot. He was off work for six months after having two toes surgically amputated and his foot restructured using wires.   The investigation by Amber Valley Borough Council, which brought the prosecution, found that Aldi did not have standardised training programmes for new drivers and equipment operators. The workers instead were expected to shadow experienced members of the team before working alone.
Open-access content
HSE

 PVC firm pays £520k after teen crushed to death by forklift

Tuesday 5th September 2017
Ben Pallier-Singleton was driving the FLT down a sloping road in Vinyl Compounds’ Chinley yard in Derbyshire in the early hours of 10 February 2015 when it tipped over. He sustained fatal head and neck injuries, Manchester Crown Court on Minshull Street was told. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Derbyshire Constabulary found that Vinyl Compounds had failed to adequately train Pallier-Singleton, who was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident.
Open-access content

 BAM, Ferrovial and Kier JV fined £1m

Friday 28th July 2017
BFK, a joint venture between BAM Nuttall, Ferrovial Agroman (UK) and Kier Infrastructure and Overseas, was sentenced today (28 July) at Southwark Crown Court following the death of Rene Tkácik on 7 March 2014, severe leg injuries sustained by Terrence Hughes on 16 January 2015, and head injuries to Alex Vizitiu on 22 January 2015.The company pleaded guilty to three offences at a previous hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
Open-access content
HSE

 *UPDATE* PVC maker fined for teen’s forklift crush failed to report previous incident

Wednesday 13th September 2017
Ben Pallier-Singleton had worked at the PVC manufacturer’s site in Chinley, Derbyshire, as a process operative for about 12 months when the accident happened on 10 February 2015. He was working the nightshift at the plant’s plastic extrusion department, where rolls of film are made. At 4.20 he drove a FLT down a sloping concrete roadway in the external yard to collect some pallets, but did not return, Manchester Crown Court was told.
Open-access content

 Tech top to toe

Friday 25th August 2017
There is a buzz in the world of safety and health clothing – and it was generated by the word “wearables”. Advances in technology could move personal protective equipment (PPE), customarily at the bottom of the hazard control hierarchy, upward as a means of reducing hazards.
Open-access content
HSE

 Toxic cloud exposes Tata Steel to £1m penalty

Monday 14th August 2017
A large quantity of benzole was released at an open site glass in the steel works on 17 June 2011. A flammable cloud developed and, had it ignited, the release could have led to serious injury or the death of the five workers. Two of the exposed workers experienced breathing difficulties. Both were sent to hospital but were discharged the next day. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Tata Steel had ignored the risks of uncontrolled releases even though they had been identified previously.
Open-access content
Topics
Lone workers
Safe systems of work
Workplace transport
Retail
News
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Health and Safety Improvement Manager

Leeds
£35000 - £50000 per annum
Reference
5452992

SHEQ Systems Advisor

Up to £40000.00 per annum + Car Allowance
Reference
5452988

Senior Health and Safety Manager

Reading
Up to £65000.00 per annum + Great Car Allowance & Benefits
Reference
5452983
See all jobs »

Sign up for regular e-alerts

Receive the latest news and features, free to your inbox

Sign up

Subscribe to IOSH magazine

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
IOSH Covers
​
FOLLOW US
Twitter
LinkedIn
YouTube
CONTACT US
Contact us
Tel +44 (0)20 7880 6200
​

IOSH

About IOSH
Become a member
IOSH Events
MyIOSH

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to IOSH magazine
Write for IOSH magazine

IOSH Magazine

Health
Safety
Management
Skills
IOSH Jobs

© 2023 IOSH • IOSH is not responsible for the content of external sites

ioshmagazine.com and IOSH Magazine are published by Redactive Media Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ