by Kathryn Boast
3 November 2010
Supermarket chain Lidl has been fined for breaching health and safety at work regulations after a member of staff sustained an injury at work.
Sandra Miles was working in the company’s regional distribution centre in Leicester when she was struck by a forklift truck, which caused a severe injury to her calf muscle and has led to a permanent disability.
Ms Miles was standing at the entrance to the cold store, checking dates on produce, when the forklift drove through a translucent plastic sheet hanging over the doorway and straight into her.
The driver alleges that he had sounded his horn but that Ms Miles did not hear him, according to PressOnSHD. He had not been sitting facing forwards in the accident and was not looking directly ahead in the seconds prior to the accident, which happened on 8 September 2008.
Ms Miles required a total of six operations, skin grafts, and is now forced to wear specially adapted shoes.
Lidl were fined £80,000 and also ordered to pay £31,500 in prosecution costs. They have also left themselves open to the possibility of Ms Miles bringing a personal injury claim against them for her work accident, although the company point out that she was on full pay for a year following the incident and describe her as “a valued member of staff."