What happened
A spring and stampings manufacturer has been fined £40,000 after a worker suffered twelve fractured ribs during a lifting operation in Worcestershire, according to the HSE Media Centre.
The HSE reports that on 24 June 2024, a 36-year-old employee at The Micro Spring and Presswork Company Limited was assisting with the lifting of a newly purchased pillar drill using a forklift truck at the company's site on Enfield Industrial Estate, Redditch. The drill, weighing approximately 500kg, became unstable during the operation and fell, striking the employee and causing serious injuries.
The HSE investigation found the company had failed to undertake a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks associated with the lift, and had failed to ensure it was properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised, and carried out safely.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. It was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £5,032 in costs at Kidderminster Magistrates' Court on 25 August 2026.
HSE inspector Charlie Rowe said the incident "was entirely preventable" and added that "employers should always ensure lifting operations are properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised, and carried out in a safe manner."
Why it matters to contractors
This wasn't a routine tower-crane lift or a bespoke rigging job. It was moving a piece of machinery off a delivery with a forklift — exactly the kind of "quick" task that gets waved through on sites and in workshops every day. And that's the point.
Lifting operations don't have to be complex to be lethal. A 500kg load with a high centre of gravity, on forks that weren't designed to secure it, is an accident looking for a moment. The failing HSE identified was not about equipment being faulty — it was about the lift not being planned, assessed or supervised by someone competent to do it.
Under LOLER 1998, every lifting operation must be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out safely. That duty applies whether you're craning steel into place or shifting a machine across a yard on a forklift. The fine here shows the regulator treats both seriously.
For contractors, the trap is familiarity. Deliveries and repositioning of plant feel like logistics, not "lifting operations" — so no one writes it down, no one appoints a lift supervisor, and the person nearest the load ends up steadying it by hand.
What to check on your site
- Is every lift planned in writing? Not just crane lifts — forklift moves, telehandler loads and machine repositioning all count under LOLER.
- Who is the competent person? Someone must plan the lift and someone must supervise it. Name them, don't assume it.
- Do you know the actual weight and centre of gravity? A 500kg load that's top-heavy behaves very differently to a stable pallet.
- Is the equipment rated and suitable for the load? Forks are for pallets; awkward machinery often needs slings, a spreader or different plant entirely.
- Is anyone in the fall zone? No one should be steadying or standing beside an unstable suspended load.
- Has the lift been briefed to everyone involved? A toolbox talk before the lift closes the gap between the plan and the people doing it.
Which SafetyPod documents help
Getting the paperwork right is the first step to making the thinking happen before the lift, not after the injury. A few of our templates map directly to this scenario:
- A task-specific lifting operations risk assessment helps you record the hazards, the load and the controls before anyone touches the forklift.
- Our RAMS & Permits Bundle gives you the method statement structure to set out who plans, who supervises and how the lift is carried out step by step.
- If you're new to this, our plain-English guide What is a RAMS? explains what should go in one and when you need it.
- A pre-lift toolbox talk makes sure the crew hears the plan before the load moves.
These templates give you a solid, editable starting point — they support your planning, but they don't replace a competent person on the day.
The bottom line
A half-tonne load, a forklift and no plan cost this firm £40,000 and a worker twelve broken ribs. Treat every machine move as a lifting operation, plan it, supervise it, and keep people out of the fall zone.
Browse the full document library to get your lifting paperwork sorted before your next delivery.