Aldi worker suffers serious foot injury in workplace incident

A driver of a pallet truck has returned to work at an Aldi supermarket, following an incident that resulted in him losing his toes.

The accident took place in November 2013 at the Somercotes, Derbyshire branch of the budget supermarket. The man was driving the powered truck when the incident occurred, which resulted in two toes being amputated from his left foot, with the remainder being fractured. Following the accident, the employee was absent from work for six months, and had to have reconstruction work on his foot, which involved using wires.

An investigation was carried out by the Regulation Unit of Amber Valley Borough Council, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph. Aldi Stores Ltd entered a guilty plea to two breaches of health and safety regulations, and received a fine of £1m, plus costs of £70,000.

According to a spokesperson for the council, Aldi did not have a specific training programme in place for new drivers, instead relying on them shadowing experienced drivers, before working on their own. The spokesperson added that the injuries suffered will be life changing, especially in later life.

Julia Cope, the lead investigating officer on the case, said:

“This accident resulted in very nasty injuries to a driver who had been asked to carry out work using equipment for which his employer had failed to provide structured and necessary formal training.”

Training is crucial for all employees, whether it’s related to the safe operation of machinery and equipment, or how to use specialist safety equipment like PPE to maximise protection.