Celebrating our 7th year anniversary

Celebrating our 7th year anniversary

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Celebrating our 7th year anniversary

We are delighted to share with you that on Wednesday 12th March, we celebrated the 7th year anniversary of our first course.

So much has changed since then.  We’ve moved premises three times, expanded each time into larger facilities, we’ve survived COVID and all the challenges that brought, we’ve extended our course range from just Counterbalance and Reach trucks, to over 50 courses now on offer, and have managed to help an increasing number of businesses improve site safety and meet their HSE obligations.

We’ve also managed to help a huge number of individuals improve their skills and find better employment opportunities.  This has been helped greatly by the partnership we have with New College, Swindon, which has helped us reach those out of work or on low incomes attain skills that make them in demand in our region.

Training Data from 2018 – 2025 YTD:

  • Delegates trained – 1,055
  • Businesses worked with – 150
  • Certificates issued – 1,535

The one thing that hasn’t changed, however, is our commitment to ensuring the highest standards of training are delivered to all our customers.  You can be certain that no matter what course you book with us, you’ll get the best quality training around.

If you’d like to see what some of our customers think, then please visit our website and see their thoughts. 

Each year brings new joy and we’re so thankful to have had the absolute privilege of working with everyone we’ve trained with over the last seven years.

We’re really looking forward to the future and will continue to stay true to our mission: to understand your needs and to support you, whoever you are, and whatever you need.

Contact us on 01793 975353 or office@keyperformancetraining.co.uk for more information about how we can help or to book your course today.

 

Need more information?

For more information please do get in touch.

You can reach us via our contacts page, via email or just give us a call on 01793 975353

Metal firm fined after injured worker loses leg

Metal firm fined after injured worker loses leg

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Metal firm fined after injured worker loses leg

A metal fabrication company has been fined £40,000 after an employee suffered a serious leg fracture that led to a below the knee amputation.

The 37-year-old man and a colleague had been loading a steel beam onto the bed of a lorry in the visitors’ car park of London Gates and Railings Ltd in Watford on 30 August 2022. His colleague was operating a forklift truck (FLT) with the steel beam suspended from it using a sling attachment

The man had been walking ahead of it using his hands to stabilise the beam. However, as the FLT moved forwards, the man’s foot was caught by the front wheel of the FLT resulting in serious injuries to his lower leg.

At the time of the accident members of the public were present in the visitors’ car park. The man’s injuries were so serious he had to have surgery to have the lower part of his leg amputated.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that London Gates and Railings Ltd failed to properly assess the risk for loading lorries and provide a suitable safe system of work.

Additionally, the FLT operator had not been trained and access to and use of the FLT was not adequately controlled. There were also inadequate measures in place to segregate pedestrians, including members of the public, from workplace transport and associated lifting operations.

London Gates and Railings Ltd of Guillmore Farm, Sandy Lane, Watford, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. They were fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £5,114 costs at a hearing at St. Albans Magistrates Court on 10 December 2024.

HSE Inspector Adam Johnson said: “Incidents involving fork lift trucks (FLT’s) and work place transport remain one of the most common causes of work-related accidents in this country.

“In this case, a suitable and sufficient assessment of risk, together with a planned safe system of work should have been completed.

“Only workers who are trained and authorised should operate FLT’s. Access and use of them should be properly controlled. Adequate measures must also be in place to properly segregate pedestrians from workplace transport and associated operations”

Are you confident that your operators have the right level of training?  We offer courses for those with operating experience, but no formal training, so it’s never too late to get your staff correctly trained.

Please click here for our range of forklift courses.

We’re ready to help you keep your business safe for visitors and staff alike.

Contact us on 01793 975353 or office@keyperformancetraining.co.uk for more information about how we can help or to book your course today.

 

Need more information?

For more information please do get in touch.

You can reach us via our contacts page, via email or just give us a call on 01793 975353

Proud supporters of the Platform Project’s Epic Gameshow 2025

Proud supporters of the Platform Project’s Epic Gameshow 2025

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Proud supporters of the Platform Project’s Epic Gameshow 2025

We are delighted to announce that the wonderful non-profit organisation, The Platform Project are launching their black-tie fundraising event called The Epic Gameshow.

This annual event raises money to fund the amazing work they do helping disadvantaged and vulnerable young people in Swindon develop the skills, confidence and experience they need to launch their careers and to take sustainable steps towards a thriving future.

Tickets are available now for you and your business to attend and join in.  There is also corporate sponsorship available, discounts for table bookings and opportunities to donate money or prizes for their raffle.

We’ve got a table, so we’ll be there so come along and join us for – we’re looking forward to a great fun night with the chance to support a great cause.

For more information please view their brochure here

Contact us on 01793 975353 or office@keyperformancetraining.co.uk for more information about how we can help or to book your course today.

 

Need more information?

For more information please do get in touch.

You can reach us via our contacts page, via email or just give us a call on 01793 975353

Metal firm fined after injured worker loses leg

Company fined £400k after forklift breaks worker’s leg

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Company fined £400k after forklift breaks worker’s leg

A plastics manufacturer in Kent has been fined £400,000 for health and safety failings, after an employee was struck by a forklift truck, breaking his leg and ankle in several places.

The incident happened at FloPlast Limited’s site at Eurolink Business Park in Sittingbourne, on 4 July 2023. The worker was walking across the yard as a forklift truck came up behind him.

 

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The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched an investigation into the incident and found several failures in FloPlast’s safety management. The business had no documented safe system of work, and although employees thought there were measures in place, nobody followed them.

Further study of the CCTV footage revealed drivers and pedestrians regularly circulated in close proximity, and one-way traffic systems were ignored. Vehicles themselves had not been assessed to ensure they provided good visibility.

Management had failed to remind pedestrians and drivers about safe systems of work, and there was also no system to monitor legal compliance.

Appearing at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court on 14 November 2024, FloPlast Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £400,000, as well as £5,567 in legal costs.

Commenting on the case, HSE Inspector Peter Bruce said:

“Poor vehicle and pedestrian segregation in the workplace is a common cause of fatal incidents and injuries. The employee in this instance suffered multiple fractures and has had to have a metal plate put into their leg which they will have for the rest of their life.

“Employers need to ensure that they have suitable measures in place to segregate out pedestrians and vehicles. This includes: the provision of safe systems of work, appropriate training procedures and systems for ensuring compliance with those measures.

“Where it is identified that employees are not following these measures, employers should consider the reasons behind this implementing further measures as appropriate to the risk.”

Make sure your site, supervisors and staff are all adequately trained with us.  We offer a huge range of courses designed to improve forklift operator safety: from high quality operator training courses to Managing and Supervising MHE Operations (e-learning).

To view our courses please click here and see how we can help improve site safety for everyone in 2025.

 

Contact us on 01793 975353 or office@keyperformancetraining.co.uk for more information about how we can help or to book your course today.

 

Need more information?

For more information please do get in touch – via our contacts page, email us or just give us a call on 01793 975353

Metal firm fined after injured worker loses leg

Farm owner fined after roofer’s fatal fall from a forklift

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Farm owner fined after roofer’s fatal fall from a forklift

A Cheshire farm owner has been fined after a man fell to his death from a forklift truck while attempting to repair the roof of a packing shed at his premises in Tarporley.

Denis Thornhill and his company D.S. Thornhill (Rushton) Limited were fined a combined £16,000 after 64-year-old Mark Young was killed at Moss Hall Farm on 1 February 2021.

 

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Earlier this year, both Thornhill and the company been found guilty of breaching health and safety legislation following a six-week trial at Chester Crown Court. The jury cleared 78-year-old Thornhill on a charge of gross negligence manslaughter. They returned to the same court on 11 October 2024 to be sentenced.

During the trial, the court was told that on 29 January 2021, Mr Young, who worked as a roofer, had been asked to make repairs to a roof panel and fix a blocked gutter on the same building. However, as he was walking across the roof, he damaged a second roof panel so a replacement was purchased to carry out an additional repair.

He returned with his son three days later to complete the work and asked to be raised up to do it. Denis Thornhill arrived with a forklift truck that had a potato box balanced on its forks. Mr Young 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 Mr Young moved to one side of the potato box, it caused it to overbalance and he fell to the floor sustained serious head injuries.

Although paramedics were called, they were unable to resuscitate him and he was pronounced deceased at the scene.

HSE Inspector Ian Betley said after the hearing: “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.”

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 and Denis Thornhill was 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.

Make sure anyone who operates your forklift trucks are properly trained with our accredited RTITB forklift courses.

 

Contact us on 01793 975353 or office@keyperformancetraining.co.uk for more information about how we can help or to book your course today.

 

Need more information?

For more information please do get in touch – via our contacts page, email us or just give us a call on 01793 975353

New MHE Incident Investigation eLearning

New MHE Incident Investigation eLearning

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New MHE Incident Investigation eLearning

We are delighted to be able to bring you RTITB’s new MHE Incident Investigation eLearning course. 

This course is designed to get to the root cause of incidents in the workplace involving Manual Handling Equipment and will give you the confidence to uncover real issues and implement meaningful fixes.

 

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In the event of a Materials Handling Equipment (MHE) incident, your investigations should never just be about ticking the compliance box! When done right, an incident investigation should get to the root cause of incidents, so you can take steps to prevent them in future.

If you’re ready to develop safer, more efficient ways of working by improving your investigations, our new cost-effective eLearning solution is ideal for you.

The new eLearning course is for anyone involved in health and safety and incident investigations. It can also be used to help warehouse operatives, supervisors, Instructors, and lift truck operators to gain a better understanding of investigations.

To find out more about this, contact us today

The advantages of eLearning

RTITB’s eLearning platform enables you to use it anytime, anywhere.  Simply log on to the secure eLearning platform, anytime, to complete the self-paced training in a time and cost effective way.

Modules include:

  1. Introduction to MHE investigation
  2. Human factors in MHE incidents
  3. Root cause analysis
  4. Steps to effective MHE investigation
  5. Identifying risk reduction/control measures
  6. Applying learning

So reduce future risks, support workplace safety, and boost compliance with RTITB Materials Handling Equipment Incident Investigation eLearning now.

 

Contact us on 01793 975353 or office@keyperformancetraining.co.uk for more information about how we can help or to book your course today.

 

Need more information?

For more information please do get in touch – via our contacts page, email us or just give us a call on 01793 975353

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