I have operated counterbalance and reach trucks, and I have been an after-sales manager in the sector. I know how a loaded machine behaves, what happens when the floor is not in good condition, and what people skip when they are in a hurry.
In a warehouse accident, the difference between winning and losing usually sits in three documents: the risk assessment, the maintenance record and the operator's training. That is where I look first.
Cases I take
- Lateral or longitudinal overturning of the truck, with or without the seat belt fastened.
- Entrapment of the operator or a third party, and pedestrians struck in traffic areas.
- Falling loads from poor stacking, damaged pallets or exceeding the load chart.
- Surcharge on social security benefits for missing safety measures (art. 164 LGSS).
- Civil and criminal liability for harm to the worker, and equally the defence of the company when the accusation does not hold.
- Machine conformity: CE marking, manual, restraint devices and inspections.
What I need from you
- Accident report, internal investigation and, where there is one, the Labour Inspectorate report.
- Risk assessment for the job and the preventive action plan.
- Instruction manual, EC declaration of conformity and the machine's load chart.
- Maintenance and inspection records for the truck.
- Evidence of the operator's training and information, with dates.
- Photographs, warehouse layout, police report and medical records.
What the law says
- Act 31/1995 on the Prevention of Occupational Risks, arts. 14 to 17: duty of protection, equipment and training.
- Royal Decree 1215/1997: work equipment and its safe use.
- Royal Decree 1644/2008: placing machinery on the market and into service.
- Art. 164 LGSS: a surcharge of 30 % to 50 % on benefits, payable by the employer.
- Technical standards in the UNE-EN ISO 3691 series on industrial trucks and their use.
What you get
- Reconstruction of the accident, with the sequence of what happened step by step.
- Analysis of causes and causal link, keeping the technical facts separate from the legal reading.
- Inspection of the machine: conformity, maintenance and actual condition.
- Documentary review of prevention: assessment, training and health surveillance.
- Numbered conclusions, in plain language, with the annexes that support them.
- Ratification and defence of the report in the courtroom.
Lifting and Warehouse Machinery
Frequently asked questions
What is the surcharge on benefits?
It is an increase of 30 % to 50 % on every cash benefit arising from the accident, paid by the employer out of its own pocket where the injury results from missing safety measures (art. 164 LGSS). Insurance does not cover it, and it is decided on technical evidence.
The company says the worker was careless. Does that end it?
Not necessarily. Spanish law distinguishes ordinary carelessness born of familiarity with the job, which does not remove the employer's liability, from reckless conduct, which does. The technical report sets out the actual conduct and the context in which it happened.
Do you need to see the truck?
Whenever possible, yes, and the sooner the better: machines get repaired, sold or scrapped. When it is no longer available I work from the documentation, the photographs and the police report, and the report states plainly what could not be verified.
Free feasibility study and a fixed written quote. I reply within 24-48 working hours.