The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning employers that they must ensure the safety of drivers who load and unload goods.

This follows an incident where HGV driver Nigel Sargeant, 46, of Boston fell 15 feet from his trailer and suffered fatal head injuries.

Saint Gobain Building Distribution Ltd were fined a total of £120,000 and ordered to pay £51,000 costs by Lincoln Crown Court after being found guilty of breaching health and safety law.

Boston-based Calders and Grandidge Limited (part of Saint Gobain) manufacture and supply wooden telegraph poles. In 2005 they decided to supply metal poles as a new product line. On 5 August, the day before the first full load of such poles were to be dispatched, Mr Sargeant was concerned about the height of a load and climbed onto a vehicle to attempt to lower it. While doing so, he fell approximately 15 feet and suffered fatal head injuries.

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HSE Inspector Jo Anderson said: "Every year 2,000 workers are seriously injured after falling from their vehicle and last year four workers actually lost their lives after falling from their truck or lorry. It is vital that those who work in the transport industry take this issue seriously.

"On 5 August, the workers had been left to their own devices to work out a method to load the poles. Mr Sargeant became concerned about the clearance beneath bridges of a load.

"He cut the bands around one of the pole packs and the load shifted causing him to fall. The height of the load exceeded the height of the pins fitted to the trailer to hold the load in place.

"This incident highlights the need for employers to recognise the risk of drivers falling when loading and unloading vehicles. They need to put measures in place to prevent this sort of incident from happening again. Had the correct measures been in place Mr Sargeant may not have died.

"Companies must have procedures in place to identify new or changed products and the impact that their introduction will have on existing systems and procedures. In this case, there was no procedure in place and therefore no risk assessment was undertaken for the loading of metal poles, despite it being recognised as a problem, as workers were finding it difficult to load the metal poles with the equipment provided which was suitable for timber poles."

(CD/JM)