I did question whether or not it was vodka, but because the storage bins were neither secured to the floor, nor had support cables to keep from moving, I figured it very well could have been in Russia.
Not sure what the safety rules in Ireland are, but I do think they are much more strict in their regulations than Russia is. If it is in Russia, Putin has probably sent him to Siberia where his new employment is keeping snow off the local runway lights, with a whisk broom.
cunning_fish, you say it was on TV last year, did they say it happened in America?
I only ask because I find it difficult to believe that any court in the USA would fine a lift operator that much money when the storage bins were not properly secured.
So in America, the company would be liable and be fined plus they would be forced to pay every ones unemployment if they were layed off due to work stoppage. Not to mention the company would also be liable for any and all medical bills plus facing a possible lawsuit, regardless if the driver is in the wrong. Sucks I know, but such are the laws in America, and I won’t even get into the difficulty the business would have in retaliating against the operator if it’s a union shop.
Something VERY similar to this happened in the warehouse of one of my customers at my former job.
The driver was raising the forks to get a pallet down, when he hit one of the supporting rails. They later determined that it had been damaged previously at some point, which caused the failure.
Anyway, he saw it starting to “buckle” and RAN..RAN..RAN; the entire wall of pallet racking came down along with about 100,000 pounds of inventory. It threw the forklift 20 feet, if that gives you any idea of the force. In the office, they heard what they thought was an “explosion.” I guess the driver was literally shaking so badly he was unable to speak for a time.
My product was on those shelves, and I had just been there earlier in the day, so the joke became that I really must have needed some sales...LOL! Seriously, it was a miracle that no one was killed.
It was a Russian supermarket and it was imported liquor (whiskey, rum) worth some $180,000. I heard that company has fired a driver and demanded to pay damage but he or she has sued too and the court ruled company to pay instead. They ruled that company haven’t provided proper training and violated safety rules there (at the same time it is clear to me it was a drivers fault).