Philip Barker
19 Aug 2022
Proper Planning could have saved a life.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reported that this week a waste management company was fined £190,000 following the death a contractor who he fell seven metres while carrying out maintenance work.
The experienced maintenance contractor was part of a team under the control and direction of Wiltshire-based Hills Waste Solutions Limited. He sustained fatal injuries in the fall on November 18, 2020, while working on a mechanical screening and separating plant on the Hills Waste Solutions site in Stephenson Road, Westbury.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Hills Waste Solutions Limited failed to ensure that work at height was properly assessed and planned. The company failed to consider and identify how the necessary work at height could be carried out safely to ensure that the risk of falls was controlled.
Hills Waste Solutions Limited, of Wiltshire House County Park Business Centre, Shrivenham Road, Swindon pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company was fined £190,000 and ordered to pay costs of £14,816, with a victim surcharge of £190 at Aldershot Magistrates’ Court on August 17, 2022.
Speaking after the hearing HSE inspector Matt Tyler said: “Those in control of work have a duty to assess the risks and devise safe methods of working and to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to those undertaking the work”.
“This incident could have been prevented had the work been adequately planned.”
Our Advice
Where possible Work at Height should be avoided. When it is not possible to avoid working at height then the task needs to be suitably assessed to determine the most suitable access equipment and safety precautions.