More prosecutions

Employers fined after HSE prosecution

1.0 A five-metre fall left Rhondda carpenter David Morgan with serious injuries which may well have ended his career. Following the prosecution of his employers for the incident, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning companies to ensure they have safe systems in place for working at height.

Mr Morgan, from Tonyrefail, fell from an extension ladder whilst he was working on a loft conversion carrying a 8ft x 4ft piece of chipboard weighing approximately 25kg, suffering a severely broken ankle, broken wrist, and facial injuries where the wood hit him after he fell.

Loft conversion company Allied Welsh Ltd, of Del Guerra Court, pleaded guilty at Bridgend Magistrates’ Court on Monday (12th May) to a charge under section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and were fined £25,000 and ordered to pay costs of £8,600 at Crown Court.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Steve Richardson said: "The company did not have a safe and suitable method of getting materials from ground level up to the loft space where they were working.

"Our investigation showed that the company had previous advice from HSE, but did not heed it on this occasion, and there was a systematic failure to provide a safe working practices in this particular area.

"Mr Morgan has been seriously affected by this incident, even after all this time, and his case must serve as a warning to others to make safety priority while working at height, and using ladders."

HSE is running its 'Shattered Lives' campaign, to highlight the devastating consequences of slips, trips and falls in the workplace. In Wales last year, one person died as a result of a fall from height, while there were a total of 2,599 injuries as a result of a slip, trip or fall, costing Welsh society more than £41.5million.

Last year over a third of injuries from slips, trips and falls reported to the HSE, originated in the food manufacturing and food retail industries and in catering and hospitality, over 10 major injuries a week are reported. Of the almost 11,000 injuries reported to the HSE last year from slips, trips and falls in the sectors targeted through this campaign, nearly half (46%) were from the construction, building and plant maintenance industries.


2.0 Friday 6 June 2008 15:09
Health and Safety Executive (West Midlands)

HSE warns of the dangers of working at height after Birmingham worker is injured in Solihull

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning company directors and owners of the importance of implementing safe systems for working at height. This follows the HSE prosecution of a Birmingham company director after an incident in which a worker was badly injured during conversion work, to Rotherhams Oak Farm Barn at Hockley Heath in Solihull.

Solihull Magistrate's Court heard that, on 18th April, 2007, a sub-contracted plasterer fell 4 metres (13ft) through a temporary timber handrail on the first floor of a barn sustaining broken wrists and bruising to the left side, necessitating a 4-day stay in hospital.

John Holdom of J R Holdom Contractors was (on Friday 6th June,2008) ordered to pay £2,000 in fines, with £1,614 costs, after pleading guilty to breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

HSE prosecuting Inspector Karl Raw said:

"Sufficient measures had not been taken to support or protect anyone from falling from the landing area and the wooden handrail was not sufficiently secured.

"There is an expectation that someone falling from that height onto a concrete floor might not survive. Such falls remain one of the biggest killers at work and last year, across the country, in the construction industry alone there were 10 employees killed, 13 self-employed killed and 3,409 seriously injured after falling from height. HSE's 'Shattered Lives' campaign, this year, has been higlihghting the devastating effects that workplace accidents such as slips, trips and falls can have by shattering the lives of the injured, their families and dependents.

"Many incidents could be avoided if companies ensured that they had thought through a safe way of tackling a job, provided all necessary protective equipment and safeguards to minimise risk to anyone on or near the site. The handrail was quite clearly unsatisfactory. Precautions that need to be taken to prevent falls are often simple and there is ample free guidance readily available to help companies take the right action."

The plasterer working on the 1st floor of the newly converted barn walked out of a bedroom onto the landing area and put his hand onto the temporary handrail which gave way. Holdom was ultimately responsible for ensuring that working at height was properly planned and safe, to ensure that any contractors were protected wherever reasonably practical.


3.0 Thursday 29 May 2008 12:22
Health and Safety Executive (Yorkshire and the Humber)

Barnsley roofer fined £2,000 for putting workers at risk

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning roofers and other contractors that when operating at height work must be planned to ensure that adequate controls are in place to prevent falls liable to cause serious injuries.

John Hartshorne of Monk Bretton, Barnsley, today pleaded guilty to a breach of Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 at Barnsley Magistrates' Court. He was fined a total of £2,000 and ordered to pay costs of £500. Mr Hartshorne and two employees were spotted by a passing HSE inspector on 23 January 2008 carrying out repairs on the roof at Walmsley's Furniture Superstore, Peel Street, Barnsley, without any measures in place to prevent falls.

HSE Inspector David Bradley said:

"Employers have a legal responsibility to protect the lives and safety of workers. This particular project was very poorly planned, and there were no controls in place to prevent falls from the roof where in areas there was potential to fall 30 feet to the ground.

"Thankfully no-one was injured on this occasion but had we not been passing and taken action, the outcome could have been quite different, and even tragic. Fatalities in the refurbishment sector rose by more than 50 per cent in 2006/7 and falls from height remain the main cause of death, with 23 fatal accidents to construction workers across the country in 2006-7."

"HSE will not tolerate poor safety standards particularly where simple, affordable controls, namely scaffolding, are recognised throughout the construction industry as being appropriate. As this prosecution demonstrates, when workers are seen to be put at obvious risk, HSE will not hesitate to take strong enforcement action."