Health and Safety Failings – Construction worker’s fall from height leads to prosecution

Construction worker’s fall from height leads to prosecution 

Key Facts:

• A construction worker suffered serious injuries after a fall from height.
• Several safety failings were identified at the site, such as a lack of planning, a lack of supervision, and a lack of suitable equipment.
• The company also failed to report the accident to the HSE.
• The firm was fined £6,000 and prosecution costs of £961.

The Case:

An HSE investigation was launched after a worker was injured in a fall from height whilst working for a construction firm on a bungalow on 6 March 2014.

The 60-year-old worker was attempting to reach a broken ridge tile on a bungalow roof in order to repair it. Having used a ladder to reach the conservatory roof, he then attempted to use the ladder from this level to reach the tile at the top of the bungalow roof. He fell, falling around 4m to the ground below where he was found by a resident, who called for an ambulance.

He suffered fractures to his skull and broke several ribs. He was kept in a high dependency unit at the hospital for a week before being transferred to a standard ward. He was unable to return to work for 19 weeks after the incident.

Several health and safety failings were identified:

• The worker had not been suitable equipment to carry out the work safely, such as scaffolding or a harness
• The work at height on the roof had not been planned or supervised
• The company failed to report the incident to the HSE – a legal requirement when workers suffer a serious injury.

The case was heard at Sefton Magistrates’ Court on 26 March 2015, where the company pleaded guilty to breaching Work at Height Regulations 2005 and the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. They were fined £6,000 and prosecution costs of £961.

What the HSE inspector had to say:

Speaking after the hearing the HSE Inspector Jackie Western stated that:

“One of the company’s employees has suffered serious injuries that may well affect him for the rest of his life because his employer ignored its legal duty to make sure he stayed safe.

Falls from height are the most common cause of deaths and serious injuries in the construction industry. The work to repair the ridge tile should have been planned properly but instead the employee was allowed to climb up to the roof without suitable equipment.

Instruments & Gauges Electronics should have made sure the work was carried out safely or, better still, hired a specialist roofing firm that knew what it was doing.”

What the law states:

Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 states:

Every employer shall ensure that work at height is properly planned; appropriately supervised; and carried out in a manner which is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe.

Regulation 4(1) of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 states:

Where any person at work, as a result of a work-related accident, suffers any bone fracture diagnosed by a registered medical practitioner, other than to a finger, thumb or toe, the responsible person must follow the reporting procedure.

Further information from the HSE on safe construction work can be found here.

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