Grocery Supplier Fined After Worker Killed by Reversing HGV

A grocery wholesaler has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and fined £1 million following an accident in which a worker was killed by a reversing HGV.

The man and a colleague were making a delivery to a store when the accident happened. He was acting as a banksman…

Aug 11, 2025

A grocery wholesaler has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and fined £1 million following an accident in which a worker was killed by a reversing HGV.

The man and a colleague were making a delivery to a store when the accident happened. He was acting as a banksman while his colleague was reversing the HGV into the store’s unloading area. He became trapped between the HGV and a wall, sustaining fatal crush injuries.

An investigation by the HSE found that the wholesaler had failed to implement a safe system of work for vehicle movements. It had also failed to adequately assess the risks involved or provide sufficient training for employees acting as banksmen.

The wholesaler pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. It was fined £1 million and ordered to pay the prosecution costs of £11,950.

Healthcare Support Agency Overturns Direct Race Discrimination Finding

A finding of race discrimination is always an extremely serious matter and that is why a rigorous approach to evidence and proof is required of Employment Tribunals (ETs). In one case, a healthcare support agency accused of subjecting a black worker to less favourable treatment succeeded in showing that that high standard was not met. The worker claimed that the agency failed to respond as it should have done after he twice complained that he had been racially abused by members of another…

Pregnancy Discrimination – Sacked Bar Manager Receives Compensation

Employers who dismiss personnel or otherwise treat them unfavourably for reasons related to pregnancy, childbirth or maternity can expect severe financial and reputational consequences. That was certainly so in the case of a loyal and committed bar manager who was pregnant when she was sacked without notice. Her employer asserted that she was dismissed for misconduct. However, an Employment Tribunal (ET) concluded that her pregnancy, and her absences from work related to her condition, were a…

Marital Discrimination – ET Failed to Ask the Right Question

To treat employees unfavourably because they are married amounts, unsurprisingly, to unlawful discrimination. However, as one case showed, proving a causal link between such treatment and marital status can be highly demanding. The case concerned a bookkeeper who was married to the principal shareholder of the company for which she worked. After their relationship ended in acrimonious divorce, she was dismissed by the company’s managing director (MD). An Employment Tribunal (ET) subsequently…