Health and Safety Failings – Westfield shopping centre prosecuted over work at height failings.

Westfield shopping centre prosecuted over work at height failings

 Key Facts:

• A construction worker fell through unguarded gap in roof deck at Westfield shopping centre.
• The worker dislocated and fractured his shoulder and was unable to work for six months.
• The owners of the shopping centre were fined £10,000 and costs of £1,247.

The Case:

An HSE investigation was launched following a work at height incident at west London’s Westfield shopping centres on 20 December 2013.

Work at height was being undertaken to construct a two-storey roof extension within the shopping centre. A team of subcontractors had been brought in to relocate five air circulation units from the previous roof level to the new roof deck.

On 20 December 2013, two of the workers were carrying out a final check of the new roof plant deck before the Christmas break. They were ensuring that all of the materials were safely secured, and not able to blow off the roof in high winds. They found two duct sections they didn’t feel were securely tied down, so began to retie them.

As they began working on the second duct, one of the workers stepped back and fell through an unprotected 8mx1m gap in the deck’s mesh flooring. He fell two metres to the roof deck below.

In the incident, the worker dislocated and fractured his shoulder and was not able to work for the following six months.

The incident could have been avoided had proper worker at height precautions, such as edge protection, been in place. The gap was planned into the work, and so proper precautions could easily have been taken.

The case was heard at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 10 March 2015. The owners of the shopping centre were fined £10,000 and costs of £1,247. They pleaded guilty to breaching the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

Falls from work at height remain the biggest cause of fatalities in the workplace and the second biggest cause of serious injuries. Cases like this remind us that there is still a long way to go with regards to making workplaces safer.

What the HSE inspector had to say:

Speaking after the hearing the HSE Inspector Loraine Charles stated that:

“The hole through which Mr Mason fell was one of a number of planned gaps in the plant deck mesh flooring. Westfield Shoppingtowns Ltd was well aware of the potential for the creation of risks of fall from height. As the principal contractor, it should have ensured that steps were taken to mitigate those risks whenever and wherever they arose.

It was under a duty to ensure that the installation of the plant deck flooring was planned to make certain that intended gaps were provided with suitable edge protection at the earliest opportunity.

This painful injury to Mr Mason, the after-effects of which still continue to have an impact on his daily life, could and should have been prevented.

Falls from height is the biggest cause of fatalities in the workplace, and the second biggest cause of serious injuries.”

What the law states:

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

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.

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