Work at height

A Birmingham tyre firm and its landlord have been fined a total of £43,333 at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to breaching health and safety legislation.

Very tall constructions are still seeing workers killed every year. But experts argue that while the extreme height is what kills, being prepared is what prevents it.

A roofer and scaffolder who have been prosecuted over a fatal fall from the roof of a two-storey terraced house did not put simple preventative measures in place to avoid the incident.

Covid disruption, wide scale furloughing of workers and a 10% reduction in weekly hours worked has been accompanied by a 28% year-on-year increase in the number of work-related fatal accidents, according to Great Britain’s annual fatality statistics.

In a new series exploring core OSH topics and your role in ensuring their risks are well managed, we look at working at height.

A civil claim for damages was upheld, with a 60% reduction due to the deceased’s contributory negligence.

Britannia Hotels has been fined more than £86,000 after an employee suffered life-changing injuries after falling through a gap railings

A construction firm must pay £63,000 after being spotted using a makeshift platform for a mobile crane and failing to use edge protection on a scaffold platform.

A roofing specialist has been ordered to pay £75,000 after pleading guilty to the corporate manslaughter of an employee on the outskirts of Belfast.

Renewable energy company Siemens Gamesa has been fined £533,000 for failing to provide fall protection at its Hull factory.