A window manufacturer and installer has been fined £36,000 after their workers were seen installing a window without any safety precautions, 8 metres above a busy west end street.

Westminster’s magistrates court head that the company carried out window installation work, which put their workers and members of the public at risk of serious injuries or fatalities.

A member of the public provided photos of the workers leading out of a window 8 metres above the street, they also provided a video, filmed on their phone, of the workers accidentally dropping a part of the window which fell to the ground narrowly missing a pedestrian.

The health and safety executive investigation found that the company failed to provide basic safety equipment, including scaffolding – which would have prevented the workers and the window from falling. On top of not providing the essential safety equipment, health and safety executive also found that the workers had not received any formal training, and there was no supervisor present.

It was also found that no risk assessment had been conducted, and the company had failed to invest in the correct safety equipment needed for when people are working at height.

Andrew Verrall – Withers, an HSE Inspector said – “The Company’s standards were appalling, and this was particularly unacceptable as previous warnings had been blatantly disregarded.”

In this day and age, there is no excuse to not take the relevant safety precautions when you are carrying out dangerous work.

Working at height is extremely dangerous so it is incredibly important to adhere to the working at height regulations and take the correct safety precautions at all times. These laws are in place to help protect workers, and the general public. In this case, if the pedestrian was under the window at the wrong time, there could have been a fatal accident.

If you have been asked to work at height make sure you have all the correct equipment for the task ahead. Remember to inspect your equipment for damage before use. If you equipment is damaged in any way, do not carry out the work until you have sourced a replacement, or had it repaired.

Here at SafetyLiftinGear we have a whole department dedicated to height safety. Here you will find a variety of specialist safety harnesses, fall arrest blocks, lanyards, safety lines, rope access equipment, anchors and more.

If you are looking for a specific item but cannot locate it on our website, you can contact us by telephoning 0800 123 69 69 or emailing sales@safetyliftingear.com and a member of our team will be more than happy to assist you. 

A window manufacturer and installer has been fined £36,000 after their workers were seen installing a window without any safety precautions, 8 metres above a busy west end street.

Westminster’s magistrates court head that the company carried out window installation work, which put their workers and members of the public at risk of serious injuries or fatalities.

A member of the public provided photos of the workers leading out of a window 8 metres above the street, they also provided a video, filmed on their phone, of the workers accidentally dropping a part of the window which fell to the ground narrowly missing a pedestrian.

The health and safety executive investigation found that the company failed to provide basic safety equipment, including scaffolding – which would have prevented the workers and the window from falling. On top of not providing the essential safety equipment, health and safety executive also found that the workers had not received any formal training, and there was no supervisor present.

It was also found that no risk assessment had been conducted, and the company had failed to invest in the correct safety equipment needed for when people are working at height.

Andrew Verrall – Withers, an HSE Inspector said – “The Company’s standards were appalling, and this was particularly unacceptable as previous warnings had been blatantly disregarded.”

In this day and age, there is no excuse to not take the relevant safety precautions when you are carrying out dangerous work.

Working at height is extremely dangerous so it is incredibly important to adhere to the working at height regulations and take the correct safety precautions at all times. These laws are in place to help protect workers, and the general public. In this case, if the pedestrian was under the window at the wrong time, there could have been a fatal accident.

If you have been asked to work at height make sure you have all the correct equipment for the task ahead. Remember to inspect your equipment for damage before use. If you equipment is damaged in any way, do not carry out the work until you have sourced a replacement, or had it repaired.

Here at SafetyLiftinGear we have a whole department dedicated to height safety. Here you will find a variety of specialist safety harnesses, fall arrest blocks, lanyards, safety lines, rope access equipment, anchors and more.

If you are looking for a specific item but cannot locate it on our website, you can contact us by telephoning 0800 123 69 69 or emailing sales@safetyliftingear.com and a member of our team will be more than happy to assist you. 

Three companies have been fined a total of £90,000 after a work fell 6 meters off a platform that had no guardrails.

Southwark crown court heard that two workers were tasked with dismantling the top level of a unit at a construction site in London. When a worker slipped and fell over the side of the unguarded platform, hit a wall, then landed on the concrete floor. The worker sustained multiple injuries, including internal bleeding, fractures to his pelvis and right arm, and a collapsed lung. The injuries have left the worker unable to continue working.

 The three companies involved, Meta Management Services, Goss Graphic Systems, and Beck and Pollitzer Engineering Limited all pleaded guilty for a variety of offences.

When you are tasked with working at height, it is vital that you adhere to the working at height regulations 2005. These regulations state that before undergoing any work at height you need to ensure that the work is planned correctly, supervised and completed by competent people, and include using the right working at height equipment. For instance, safety harnesses, fall arrest blocks, anchors points and tool lanyards.

It is down to the employers to ensure that their workers are protected when they are working at height; this means that you need to ensure that collective protection equipment, such as guard rails, are implemented to protect everyone who is at risk, and that your workers are all wearing the appropriate personal protection equipment.

Before undergoing work at height, you must make sure that the weather conditions do not pose any risk of harm to your workers, make sure that it is dry and there is no wind. Ensure that the place where the work is to be undertaken is safe. That it’s not likely to collapse, and objects are not likely to fall from height.

At the first of February the laws regarding the health and safety sentencing changed. This means that companies that are found breaching the health and safety regulations can face serious sentences, and heftier fines when caught.

The introduction to of the new guidelines ensure that the courts rule all health and safety breaches in a standard way. Before the definitive guidelines were introduced, it was often left to the judges to decide the seriousness of the breach and then they came to a sentencing decision. This often led to larger companies not feeling an impact from breaching the health and safety regulations, and small companies put under too much financial strain, and ending up out of business.

The new sentencing guidelines now take into account culpability and harm factors on a scale of 1 – 4 (1 being the highest and 4 being the lowest), and the companies financial information. The sentencing is then broken down into 4 categories depending on the size of the company.

If you are running a large company with a turnover in excess of £50m a year you will incur larger fines (up to £10m) than a micro company.

Because of this change in sentencing, it is now, time to act and purchase the correct equipment to protect your workers while they are working at height.

We urge you all to start protecting your workers whilst they are at height and to purchase the correct equipment. At SafetyLiftinGear we have a whole department dedicated to height safety, containing equipment such as safety harnesses, lanyards, safety lines, anchor points, and more!

We would also like to remind you that on the 10th and 11th February we are attending the Executive Hire Show where we will have a stand dedicated to our height safety range. If you are attending the show, come and visit us at stand D80 and X32.

Three companies have been fined a total of £90,000 after a work fell 6 meters off a platform that had no guardrails.

Southwark crown court heard that two workers were tasked with dismantling the top level of a unit at a construction site in London. When a worker slipped and fell over the side of the unguarded platform, hit a wall, then landed on the concrete floor. The worker sustained multiple injuries, including internal bleeding, fractures to his pelvis and right arm, and a collapsed lung. The injuries have left the worker unable to continue working.

 The three companies involved, Meta Management Services, Goss Graphic Systems, and Beck and Pollitzer Engineering Limited all pleaded guilty for a variety of offences.

When you are tasked with working at height, it is vital that you adhere to the working at height regulations 2005. These regulations state that before undergoing any work at height you need to ensure that the work is planned correctly, supervised and completed by competent people, and include using the right working at height equipment. For instance, safety harnesses, fall arrest blocks, anchors points and tool lanyards.

It is down to the employers to ensure that their workers are protected when they are working at height; this means that you need to ensure that collective protection equipment, such as guard rails, are implemented to protect everyone who is at risk, and that your workers are all wearing the appropriate personal protection equipment.

Before undergoing work at height, you must make sure that the weather conditions do not pose any risk of harm to your workers, make sure that it is dry and there is no wind. Ensure that the place where the work is to be undertaken is safe. That it’s not likely to collapse, and objects are not likely to fall from height.

At the first of February the laws regarding the health and safety sentencing changed. This means that companies that are found breaching the health and safety regulations can face serious sentences, and heftier fines when caught.

The introduction to of the new guidelines ensure that the courts rule all health and safety breaches in a standard way. Before the definitive guidelines were introduced, it was often left to the judges to decide the seriousness of the breach and then they came to a sentencing decision. This often led to larger companies not feeling an impact from breaching the health and safety regulations, and small companies put under too much financial strain, and ending up out of business.

The new sentencing guidelines now take into account culpability and harm factors on a scale of 1 – 4 (1 being the highest and 4 being the lowest), and the companies financial information. The sentencing is then broken down into 4 categories depending on the size of the company.

If you are running a large company with a turnover in excess of £50m a year you will incur larger fines (up to £10m) than a micro company.

Because of this change in sentencing, it is now, time to act and purchase the correct equipment to protect your workers while they are working at height.

We urge you all to start protecting your workers whilst they are at height and to purchase the correct equipment. At SafetyLiftinGear we have a whole department dedicated to height safety, containing equipment such as safety harnesses, lanyards, safety lines, anchor points, and more!

We would also like to remind you that on the 10th and 11th February we are attending the Executive Hire Show where we will have a stand dedicated to our height safety range. If you are attending the show, come and visit us at stand D80 and X32.

If you haven’t heard about the BLOODHOUND Project – where have you been? If you haven't heard about the project - here is the low-down: The Bloodhound project is a complete engineering adventure aimed at getting the next generation interested in mathematics, science, technology and engineering. All while attempting to break the world land speed record with a 1000mph supersonic car.

This project has seen hundreds of sponsors & partners, such as Rolls-Royce and Jaguar, come together and contribute to this amazing project. SafetyLiftinGear have also made our own contributions to the project by supplying them with some of our specialist lifting equipment.

Education is at the very heart of the project and they regularly host family workshops. During the workshops you can expect an interactive presentation explaining the science and engineering behind the BLOODHOUND SCC and an exciting tour of the workshop, as well as seeing the car itself! If that wasn’t enough, they also offer practical workshops, where your child can build their own super cars out of foam (capable of reaching speeds of 55mph!), before heading out to the car park for a race.

So if you are looking for something educational, exhilarating fun this half term, head on down to the BLOODHOUND technical centre, Avonmouth, Bristol. The workshops are held from Wednesday 10th February to Friday 19th February.

Click here to read more about the Bloodhound Rocket Car Experience and book your tickets today!