Farm Owner Fined after Roofer Dies in Forklift Fall

A ROOFER fell to his death from a forklift truck while attempting to repair the roof of a packing shed at a farm in Tarporley, Cheshire.

The farm’s owner, Denis Thornhill and his company, D.S. Thornhill (Rushton) Limited were consequently fined a combined £16,000 following a six-week trial at Chester Crown Court earlier this year before later returning to court to be sentenced.

Forklift Fall

On 29 January 2021, 64-year-old Mark Young had been asked to make repairs to a roof panel and fix a blocked gutter on the same building. As he was walking across the roof, he damaged a second roof panel and so a replacement was purchased to carry out an additional repair.

He returned to the site with his son three days later to complete the work and asked to be raised up to the roof using a forklift truck.

Denis Thornhill arrived with a forklift truck that had a potato box balanced on its forks. Mark was lifted up inside the potato box to a height of around 16 feet, while his son, who was on the roof, attempted to reposition the panel from above. As Mark moved to one side of the potato box, it became unbalanced and he fell to the floor, sustaining serious head injuries.

Although paramedics were called, they were unable to resuscitate Mark and he died at the scene.

Mark Young was inside this potato box that had been lifted up to the roof by a forklift truck

No Safe System of Work

A joint investigation by Cheshire Constabulary and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that on the day of the accident there was no safe system of work implemented for working at height and unsuitable work equipment was used.

The potato box did not have the required safety features for a non-integrated work platform and had not been secured in a way to prevent it overbalancing.

Additionally, the forklift truck had not been subjected to a thorough examination at the required frequency and was unsuitable for lifting people. Denis Thornhill was also not formally trained in operating the forklift truck.

Enforcement action was taken and a Prohibition Notice was served on the company prohibiting further work until a safe system was devised.

Farm Owner Fined

Denis Thornhill of Eaton Lane, Tarporley, Cheshire was cleared of gross negligence manslaughter but was found guilty of breaching Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, by virtue of 37(1) of the Act and was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,000.

D.S. Thornhill (Rushton) Limited of Moss Hall Farm, Moss Hall Lane, Tarporley, Cheshire was found guilty of breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,000.

HSE Inspector Ian Betley said: “This was a tragic incident that could so easily have been avoided.

“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.

“In bringing the forklift truck and potato box and using it to lift Mark at height, the company was in control of the work but had failed to implement proper planning and safe execution of it.

“All companies have a legal duty to ensure the safety of workers they employ or who carry out work for them. If that had happened in this case, then Mark’s life wouldn’t have been lost.”

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