Height safety is serious business. According to the Health and Safety Executive, falls from height were responsible for more than 20% of fatal workplace injuries in the UK in 2013/14, as well as for over 15% of all major or specified injuries during that same period.
In spite of these statistics - the numerous deaths, the thousands upon thousands of injuries - far too many British businesses are still neglecting their responsibilities when it comes to working at height. Here are three sobering case studies from this month alone - all were reported on the HSE website within two weeks of time of writing:
Photograph from press.hse.gov.uk
Fatal fall for 60-year-old fenestration worker
Philip Evans (originally from Penarth, South Wales) died in hospital after a 4.5 metre fall, which he suffered whilst working on a store front in Exeter. Mr Evans had been making his way along a glass canopy when he fell through an unguarded gap, which had apparently been created during previous work when a pane of glass had been removed from the canopy and no replacement put in. His employer, London Fenestration Traded Ltd, has now been fined £200,000 with £17,790 costs, as has Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd, the principal contractor for the job in question.
Careless cleaning company fined thousands
Turbo Property and Cleaning Services Ltd - a Sheffield-based company - were found guilty of breaching both the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 this week. Late last year, one of Turbo's employees was found working on "a fragile roof with no protection measures in place"; the company has been fined £2,000 for this violation.
Worker sustains "life-changing injuries" after falling through roof
When Andrew Bannister was told to repair a fragile roof on a farm in Leicestershire, he expressed some concern, but his employer sent him up without any fall protection equipment anyway. What happened next? A 10-metre fall, a painful landing on a concrete floor, and several serious injuries. Mr Bannister (48 years old at the time of the incident in question) was left with a broken neck, a broken back, and three broken ribs after falling through the roof of the barn; he is now permanently reliant upon a walking stick, and has stated, "I will be on pain killers for the rest of my life. The injury has changed my life completely." PK & IF Cobley Ltd were recently fined £75,000 (plus £29,351.88 costs) for failing to prevent the fall.
If these stories of death, injury, and punishment have made you realise that you could be doing more to protect your workers, head over to SafetyLiftinGear's Height Safety Equipment department - we supply a huge variety of safety harnesses, fall prevention systems, edge protection products, and everything else you need to prevent falls from height.
0117 9381 600
