Fine issued for breach of work at height regulations

Demolition firm fined for breaching work at height regulations

Key Facts:

• Demolition firm caught on camera risking workers’ lives whilst undertaking work at height
• An immediate enforcement notice was served to the firm following an HSE visit
• The firm was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £1,053 in costs

The Case:

A member of the public contacted the HSE on 7 January 2014 to express their concern about demolition work being undertaken on a disused pub by a Windsor based firm.  They provided the HSE with photographs that showed workers removing tiles at height with no precautions in place to prevent them falling from the roof.

The same day as the photographs were received, an HSE inspector visited the site, and after seeing the dangers in person, an immediate enforcement notice was served to the firm, prohibiting any further work at height until adequate safety measures were deployed.

The case was heard in Reading Magistrates’ Court on 19 February 2015. The court was told that the firm had put the two workers on the site in danger by failing to work to recognised standards. The roof work was not adequately managed or monitored which exposed the workers to a completely unnecessary risk of falling.

As a result, the firm was fined £1,000 after admitting a breach in the Work at Height Regulations as well as £1,053 in costs.

What the HSE Inspector had to say:

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Dominic Goacher stated that:

AG Edwards & Son put the lives at risk of two workers by carrying out this demolition job in a totally unsafe manner. Anyone falling from the roof of that disused pub would likely be killed and that type of disregard for safety is totally unacceptable.

The company failed to follow basic safety precautions and heed the freely available guidance available. Had the work been planned correctly, suitable protection such as a scaffold, a fully-guarded platform and edge protection would have been in place.

What the law states: 

Regulation 6 (3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 states that:

Where work is carried out at height, every employer shall take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, any person falling a distance liable to cause personal injury.

Further information on work at height can be found here http://www.hse.gov.uk/work-at-height/index.htm

Find details of our safety training courses here http://www.lrbconsulting.co.uk/training/

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