Health and Safety Failings – Unsafe ladder work leads to prosecution

Unsafe ladder work leads to prosecution

Key Facts:

• An investigation was launched after an employee broke his heel in an incident involving a ladder.
• The worker was unable to return to work for 6 months.
• The company were prosecuted for failing to adequately plan work at height.

The Case:

An HSE investigation was launched after a Stockport based firm’s employee suffered injuries after falling from a ladder.

On the day on the incident (26 September 2013), the worker was installing cables for an alarm system. As he was descending the ladder, he jumped from it, and sustained a broken heel. He was unable to return to work for 6 months.

The subsequent HSE investigation found that the company had failed to plan work at height to an adequate standard. No specific risk assessment had been carried out, and there was no procedure in place to ensure that work at height was adequately planned.

The case was heard at Macclesfield Magistrates’ Court on 7 April 2015, where the company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1)(a) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

What the law states:

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

Every employer shall ensure that work at height is— (a) properly planned; (b) appropriately supervised; and (c) carried out in a manner which is so far as is reasonably practicable safe, and that its planning includes the selection of work equipment in accordance with regulation 7.

Further information on safe ladder work can be found here.

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