Urgent advice needed - potential gross misconduct

[Passe]

Looking for urgent advice on this situation.

DP works nights in a warehouse (9 months in, permanent contract)) on a forklift. Thankless backbreaking work where all the workers are treated appallingly.

6 months ago he accidentally clipped a pallet causing an immediate investigation and threats of gross negligence.

Last week, a similar thing happened, he was exhausted and must have taken his eye off the ball for a second.

He has been called to a disciplinary meeting on Friday afternoon (well after his last shift for the week) where he is convinced they are about to fire him. He has previously observed that a Friday afternoon seems to be the preferred date /time for firing as the company will have got a full week's work out of the employee.

If that is the case he thinks he should just resign up front rather than wait to be sacked.

I think that is a really bad thing to do, surely there are several steps to this process and he also says the whole place is a total H&S shambles.
We are also going through a really traumatic time at home with other issues.

What can he do? If he loses his job we will lose our house.

Outcomes are

Successful conclusion to probation
Extension to probation
Review of probationary period
Termination of employment

A couple of understandable errors does not add up to gross misconduct.

Gross misconduct would be driving a fork lift while drunk.

Does he have a union rep?

Unfortunately most employment rights do not kick in until you have two years of continuous service with your employer.

H&S is applicable from day 1 though. Does DH really think his accident was due to H&S failings.

PPs they are saying gross NEGLIGENCE not misconduct

Honestly I don't want to scare you but I work in this industry and we take a zero tolerance approach to mistakes with a fork lift. It's always viewed as just near catastrophic miss in every case because the potential for serious injury is high.
Two incidents would absolutely result in dismissal .

My friends mum was killed by a forklift truck, the guy reversed into her.
He should not be driving one of these if he’s tired, they absolutely should be taking two episodes of dodgy driving seriously.

His probation was extended by 3 months after the first incident.

It also transpires he was given conflicting information prior to the 2nd incident, He was told by his manager that if a pallet falls that's the worse that can happen so he tried to correct it. What he is being accused of is tampering with scene of an 'potential' accident.

He has also told me there are other major H&S failings:

Locked fire exits
High voltage power cable junctions left exposed in broken cabinets

Yep I'm scared

I'd get him to film all of this secretly.

We all kind of glossed over the post that "mentioned forklifts not operating correctly". Has this been part of the problem with these two misses? Are they deferring maintenance?

I wouldn't mention "other shit" that wasn't mentioned before. It could be taken as saying that he knowingly operated the forklift despite being in an unfit state to do so.

My brother was a forklift operator in a fruit packing house (company). He’d move big pallets of packed boxes of fruit from, say, the front of the house to the cold storage.
One day, he spilled an entire pallet. The floor manager screamed and yelled at him and had him get off the forklift and help restack the boxes and (the manager) got on the forklift to show everybody how to properly do it.
The manager spilled the pallet, too, only this time, all the boxes had to be re-packed. If I remember correctly, it was peaches. Lots and lots of peaches.
It was a lesson in humility, and it was my dad’s packing house. Now those days are long past and the people with them.
I hope your husband gets a fair shake and that his bosses are not fire-happy. Driving a forklift is not as easy as people might think. I think his bosses could use a few lessons in humility - and humanity. ❤️

I'd still push back on the gross misconduct, and the 'tampering with evidence' claim.

Ask him to take photos if the H&S breaches and if they do sack him, he needs to contact the HSE and ask them to investigate.

Why did he clip the pallet? Lack of concentration, speeding, lack of training, messing about, racing, not following procedure, pallets in wrong place, ignoring instructions, spillage on floor, surface worn, mechanical issues, lighting issues, etc. This would be the first question. Why did it happen, was it avoidable or a series of events.

The disciplinary should proceed whether he gives his notice in or not. If he attends he can put his argument over. If not be can't answer their questions. Any reference can refer to dismissal for gross misconduct, or giving notice pending a disciplinary.

If he has a reasonable argument about why the accident happened he should be ok. Depends why he got the pallets. Was it an accident or was it avoidable? That is the issue

Presumably if they were to sack him, it would be because they don't feel he's safe driving a fork lift truck. Which then poses the question, why is it ok for him to carry on doing so until Friday?

You mention he is exhausted as he’s not sleeping. Can this be addressed? Sounds like it should be. An exhausted person driving a potentially dangerous piece of equipment through the night - risky. Don’t suppose there’s an option to work days either there or elsewhere in future? Sending best wishes OP - you have some v helpful advice on this thread.

He spoke to the union guy last night who said he should resign or he will lose his forklift license!

He's been put on other duties

He's been out on other duties