Fulfilment centre forklift incident

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• Experienced drivers drive fast, and newer drivers copy them, so unsafe behaviour becomes the normal way of working.
• Team leaders do not intervene, so their silence tells workers that it is accepted.
• The weekly prize and the league table reward speed, and teams push one another to keep up.
• Agency workers do not want to be seen as slow, so they do not ask questions or raise concerns.
• Pickers wearing headphones copy colleagues, and there is no rule or example against it.
• Workers feel exhausted but are told by team leaders that it is part of the job, so concerns are dismissed by peers.
• Workers stack stock over walkway markings, and others copy, so rules lose meaning.
• After the incident, the team leader told workers to get back to work, which shows that output ranks above care for a colleague.
• The GM's view that the injured worker was at fault encourages blame and discourages honest reporting.
• New workers want to be accepted by the group, so they follow its habits, even if they know they are unsafe.
• Near misses are handled with a quick word to the driver, and workers see this as normal.

Marks counted: 0 of 10

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• The same near miss at the corner of aisle 5 is recorded twice, so the cause was not fixed after the first time.
• The usual action is to tell the driver to slow down, which deals with a person and not with the layout or the system.
• Another near miss between a forklift and an agency worker at the dock shows that the problem is repeated in other areas.
• One near miss, a pallet falling from a rack, has no action at all.
• Damage to the rack upright was left in place, which is a hazard of collapse and shows no follow up.
• No one is recorded as having reviewed the log, so managers did not see the pattern.
• There is no trend analysis by place, type or cause, which would have shown that forklift and pedestrian contacts were frequent.
• The log gives little detail, such as time, who was involved, and what the cause was.
• There is no risk rating for events, so the potential severity of near misses was not considered.
• No investigation is shown for any event, even the injury or the damage.
• There is no feedback to workers or the use of the information in training, risk assessment or inspection.
• Agency workers and drivers might be under reported because of a fear of being seen as slow or of being sent away.
• The log does not link events to corrective actions with owners and dates.

Marks counted: 0 of 12

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• The OM does a monthly inspection alone, so it is not frequent enough for a busy site where conditions change daily.
• A one page checklist ticked with no comments suggests it is a routine exercise and not a real check.
• The checklist is general and does not cover forklift routes, the walkway markings, racking damage, visibility or housekeeping.
• The results are filed and not reviewed by the GM, so no one acts on them.
• Team leaders have never been asked to inspect, so they have no ownership of their areas.
• Improvement: have daily checks by team leaders, with weekly checks by managers and a monthly formal inspection by a team including workers.
• Improvement: use a checklist that is specific to each area and set out the standards, with notes and photographs.
• Improvement: give the inspectors training in what to look for.
• Improvement: record each defect with a risk rating, owner and deadline, and track until it is closed.
• Improvement: make the GM review the results and report them at management meetings.
• Improvement: involve workers and agency workers in inspections and ask what hazards they see.
• Improvement: include the inspection of racking by a competent person and a check of the training and licence records.

Marks counted: 0 of 12

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• Give first aid and call the emergency services at once, and keep other workers away from the scene.
• Stop forklift movement in the area, make it safe and prevent further harm.
• Preserve the scene without disturbing it, with photographs and measurements, and secure the forklift and the load.
• Notify the authority, the insurer and the agency, as required.
• Look after the distressed witnesses and the driver, and allow time for support, rather than send them back to work.
• Appoint an independent, competent investigation team with worker representatives, and do not start with a search for who is to blame.
• Take statements early, separately, from the injured worker when able, the driver, witnesses, team leaders and agency staff.
• Examine the forklift, its brakes, horn, lights and load handling, and the condition of the aisle and markings.
• Collect documents: training and licence records of the driver, the agency's records, the induction records, the risk assessment and traffic plan.
• Check working hours, breaks and overtime of the driver and the picker.
• Review CCTV, if available, and the layout and sight lines at the corner.
• Look at the earlier near misses, the inspection records and the incentives such as the weekly prize.
• Identify the immediate, underlying and root causes, including management and culture factors.
• Make recommendations with owners and deadlines, share the lessons, and follow up to check they work.

Marks counted: 0 of 14

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• The induction of 20 minutes is too short and consists of a video and a checklist, with no check of understanding.
• It does not cover forklift routes, the walkways, the rule on headphones or emergency arrangements.
• No site tour with a competent person is given to agency workers.
• Agency drivers are supplied daily and Northgate has no record of their training, so competence is not checked.
• Northgate's own drivers have a short in house test and some refreshers are overdue.
• Team leaders are busy and agency workers feel unable to ask, so supervision is weak.
• New workers learn from others by copying, including unsafe habits.
• Improvement: a longer induction before work, specific to the site, with a walk round and a test of understanding.
• Improvement: require the agency to provide evidence of forklift training and licences, and check them on site before the driver operates.
• Improvement: an assessment of each driver on site before they begin, and a regular refresher for all.
• Improvement: a buddy or mentor for each new worker for the first weeks.
• Improvement: agree responsibilities with the agency in a written contract, including health and safety and information sharing.
• Improvement: make team leaders accountable for the safety of their team and train them in supervision.
• Improvement: check that agency workers have the right protective equipment and rest, and are not used for the highest risk tasks before they have been trained.

Marks counted: 0 of 14

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• Long shifts of 11 hours, six days a week, give little time to rest and recover.
• Breaks of 20 minutes and 20 minutes for lunch in a long shift are not enough.
• The speed bonus and the league table put constant pressure on workers to go faster.
• The weekly prize makes teams compete, and workers fear letting the team down.
• Heat in the dock area in summer, and cold draughts in winter, add physical strain.
• Repeated manual handling of cartons and pallets, and picking and walking for long periods, cause physical tiredness.
• Agency workers have insecure work and may not refuse overtime for fear of losing shifts.
• Workers who say they are exhausted are told it is part of the job, so there is little support or control.
• Peak season workload is unpredictable and there is poor planning of staffing and overtime.
• Poor communication and training leaves new workers unsure of what is expected.
• The risk of being hit by a forklift adds to the worry of working in the aisles.
• There is no system for monitoring working hours or for checking the stress and well being of workers.

Marks counted: 0 of 12

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• Responsibility (a): the driver took the corner at speed with a double stacked load blocking his view.
• Responsibility (a): the picker crossed the main aisle at a blind corner with headphones on, so she could not hear the horn.
• Responsibility (a): experienced drivers drive fast, which puts others at risk.
• Responsibility (b): drivers did not follow safe speed and load rules, and workers stack stock on walkway markings.
• Responsibility (c): drivers do not use the horn or the load carrying rules properly, and pickers do not use designated crossing points.
• Responsibility (d): near misses were not reported by workers in some cases, for example the pallet fall had no action, and several were not reported to the right person.
• Responsibility (d): workers who knew of the blind corner did not report it as a hazard to be fixed.
• Employers must also provide clear rules, training and supervision to allow workers to meet these responsibilities, and some of the blame is theirs.

Marks counted: 0 of 8

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• Plan: set a clear policy and objectives, with named responsibilities for forklift and pedestrian safety.
• Plan: do a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of traffic and handling, with a traffic management plan.
• Plan: set measurable targets, for example for near miss reporting and closing actions.
• Plan: change the bonus and prize so that they do not reward unsafe speed.
• Do: provide segregated walkways, barriers, mirrors, crossing points and speed limits, and enforce a rule on headphones.
• Do: train and supervise all workers, including agency workers, and give them time to follow the rules.
• Do: control working hours and breaks, and arrange cover for peak periods.
• Check: active monitoring through better inspections, observations and audits.
• Check: reactive monitoring through investigating incidents and near misses and reviewing the log for trends.
• Check: seek workers' views, including agency workers, through meetings and surveys.
• Act: managers review results regularly and decide on corrective actions with owners and deadlines.
• Act: update the policy, risk assessments and training in the light of findings, and share the lessons.

Marks counted: 0 of 12

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• To check whether existing controls such as walkways and horn rules are working.
• To find where objectives and targets have not been met, and why.
• To learn from the incident and the earlier near misses and decide on improvements.
• To check compliance with law and with the company's own policy.
• To decide where to put resources and which actions are most important.
• To show the authority, insurers and clients that the company is managing risk and improving.
• To check that the changes made after the incident are effective and continue.
• To check that the review of the policy and the management system is up to date and fit for the changing business, such as seasonal staff.

Marks counted: 0 of 6