Work at height – College fined

Work at height – a college was fined after contributing to life-long injuries to one of its employees. A college specialising in Health and Safety teaching was found to have failed to ensure work at height had been carried out safely – with no risk assessments having been completed on this since moving to a new facility nor had any training on work at height been given to the employee.  The investigation showed that the college had installed a new extraction system designed to remove carbon fibre dust from the atmosphere during drilling and other processes. The system had been installed at short notice following a new contract to train people in the aerospace industry.

The college in their haste to have the system fitted had given inadequate thought to the location of the system and ease of maintenance of the filters which needed to be changed weekly. It was found that the extractor had been placed in a narrow gap between a cabinet and fixed workbench. As a result it was impossible to get to the filter using the on-site MEWP.  The court heard that just the week before the accident his supervisor had stood and watched the employee change the filter in exactly the same way which resulted in his injuries occurring but failed to take any action and ensure that the work was carried out safely in future. The court found that due to its location the worker had no option but to do what he was doing in order to perform the actions required. It was found that the only way to reach the filter, which was three metres off the ground, was to use a stepladder standing on the top rung with his right foot and having his left foot on the cabinet. On this occasion the inevitable happened and the stepladder toppled over and the employee fell sideways hitting a bench on the way down. It left him with a broken back in several places and a fractured breastbone. He now requires painkillers daily and for the rest of his life.

The court was told that anyone with any basic knowledge of Health and Safety would know that using a stepladder in this manner was dangerous, but the practice was allowed to continue. Also if they had given adequate planning and consideration to accessibility then the life of its employees would not have been put at risk. They were ordered to pay £20,000 in fines and £7,600 in costs after pleading guilty to the charges.