Company issued fine after employee falls to his death
A company has been issued a £100,000 fine after one of its employees fell 12 metres onto a concrete floor.
The employee was dismantling a temporary hanger at Bristol Airport when the work accident claim occurred.
The worker was meant to be using an elevated platform to remove PVC from the hanger’s roof. However, he was told that he would be allowed to get onto the roof on the provision that he used a safety harness.
On the second day of work, he left his safety basket to get onto the roof, but stepped onto a section of cut PVC, causing him to slip and fall to his death.
Ian Dixey, prosecuting, told the court that the company’s risk assessment was inadequate, and that there had been a lack of training and supervision throughout the task.
The company was found guilty of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work act 1974 and fined £100,000 with nearly £50,000 in costs for the incident. It is unknown if a compensation claim will be filed by the worker's family.
HSE inspector Steve Frain said: “The company failed in its duty to ensure there was a properly planned and supervised means of working – there should have been no need to work directly on the rood. Adequate safety measure must be in place to protect all workers in order to prevent tragic incidents such as this.”
Updated on 4/21/2010