The death of a Dromore man would not have occurred if the handbrake on a forklift truck reported for repair had been adjusted to the minimum specification, Omagh Coroner's Court heard this month. The inquest follows an incident on 1 February 2006, where John McNeelagh was crushed while loading a truck on the premises of Balcas Saw Mills near Enniskillen.
When three co-workers arrived on the scene Mr McNeelagh was already dead. He was found trapped between a pallet of wood at the front of the forklift and the articulated lorry. The workers gave accounts of running down to the "kiln" area of the Saw Mills and finding the forklift with its handbrake on. A machine operator said that it was common practice for forklift drivers to pull on the handbrake, get out of the vehicle and walk to the front to adjust the "skids" that are attached to the forks.
Brian Pryce, Health and Safety Executive Officer who conducted the investigation, said that prior to the accident an employee had reported that the forklift was "braking unevenly." He had also noticed that when the forklift was parked on a slope with the handbrake engaged, the vehicle would move forward a short distance, between one and two feet.
Pryce's report also stated that Mr McNeelagh had parked the forklift on a five degree slope on the concrete yard and that four kilograms of force were exerted by the use of the handbrake. However the manufacturer's recommendation to properly secure a Komatsu SL2 forklift was a force of 20 kilograms. The handbrake functioned safely during subsequent tests when 20 kilograms of force were applied with the same load on board the forklift involved in the accident.
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