A member of the public complained to Walltopia, which is based in Letnitsa, Bulgaria, that its employees were working on a pallet balanced on a telehandler's forks during construction of a high ropes adventure course at Markeaton Park, Derby.
The company promised to stop the unsafe practices, but failed to do so. The member of the public reported the issue to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which found employees working on a section of open-edged roof 11 m off the ground. The workers climbed on to the roof from the basket of a cherry picker.
Walltopia was fined £500,000 and ordered to pay costs of £8,013 after pleading guilty to breaching reg 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations which requires employers to ensure work at height is managed safely.
After the case, HSE inspector Lee Greatorex said: "Using a pallet on a telehandler for planned work at height is an unacceptable means of access. It appears that the company failed to put in place control measures after being alerted about this."
