Work at Height Risks

A manufacturing company has been fined £5,000 after an employee fell over three metres, breaking five vertebrae and sustaining whiplash to his neck.

The employee had been asked to inspect a leak on a flat roof when he tripped on cable and fell from the roof. There were no guard rails on the roof or any safety rpotection below it.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspection revealed that the company’s employees were exposed to risk when working at height.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. We wrote last week of how that regulation imposes a duty on employers to 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. Employers must also ensure that equipment is provided in accordance with Regulation 7.

As long a employers ignore these regulations, employees will be exposed to significant dangers which can and ought to be avoided.

If you have been injured in an accident at work, call Gregory Abrams Davidson Solicitors on the above number for advice.