Firms advised to tighten safety measures after lincolnshire company fined £4000

The Health & Safety Executive are warning firms and their employees to make sure proper precautions are in place when working at height after a Lincolnshire company was fined at Boston Magistrates Court today.

Last May one of Richard Foster's employees, Alan Cater, fell 16 feet through an unprotected skylight, incurring head and shoulder injuries. Today (Monday 24th April) the company Richard Foster pleaded guilty to contravening Health & Safety at Work Act and Work at Height Regulations and was fined £4000.

Lincolnshire HSE Principal Inspector Frank Lomas said: "Although this was a nasty injury, it could easily have been a lot worse - every year people working at height lose their lives or suffer serious injury, people have been killed or left disabled from shorter falls from this. Employers need to exercise sufficient control to prevent this sort of thing happening - including carrying out a proper risk assessment.

There are some very simple steps that need to be taken before carrying out any work at height:

1. Ask yourself if the work needs to be at height in the first place;

2. Plan the work in advance including how you will gain access to the work at height and how will you prevent falls;

3. Implement the control measures identified in the plan e.g. hire in a cherry picker, protect fragile surfaces;

4. Supervise the work so that the plan is followed and the safety measures to prevent falls are used.

Every job is different and you need to go through these steps every time. These precautions are not new and HSE has produced lots of guidance which is freely available.

Firms need to ensure they have devised a proper method for doing the job - some employers clearly need to raise their game to stay on the right side of the law."

Throughout Britain 53 people died and nearly 3800 suffered a serious injury in 2004/05 as a result of a fall from height in the workplace.

Falls from height are the most common cause of fatal injury and the second most common cause of major injury to employees, accounting for around 15% of injuries at work.

Work at height accidents are a major target for HSE in reducing injuries in the workplace.

Notes to editors
The company pleaded guilty to contravening two charges under the Work at Height Regulations 2005 (fine £3,000). They were also ordered to pay full costs.

Firms should remember:
* If you are following good practice for work at height now should already be doing enough to comply with these Regulations;
* follow the risk assessments you have carried out for work at height activities and make sure all work at height is planned, organised and carried out by competent persons;
* follow the hierarchy for managing risks from work at height - take steps to avoid, prevent or reduce risks; and
* choose the right work equipment and select collective measures to prevent falls (such as guardrails and working platforms) before other measures which may only mitigate the distance and consequences of a fall (such as nets or airbags) or which may only provide personal protection from a fall.