January 22, 2018

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In court

£100k fine in fall death case

A construction company has been fined after an employee died after falling over six metres.

Plymouth Magistrates’ Court heard how an employee of C & R Construction (SW) Ltd suffered fatal injuries after falling whilst carrying out work installing roof sheets on a new agricultural building.

The incident occurred on the 11 May 2016. Investigating, the Health and Safety Executive found a number of failures. The company failed to:

  • provide suitable edge protection
  • ensure there was a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks from the use of the edge protection
  • ensure those installing the edge protection and supervising the work had received adequate training.

Pleaded guilty

C & R Construction (SW) Ltd of Lower Park, Crediton, Devon pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 2 (1) of The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and have been fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £11,060.40.

Speaking after the hearing HSE inspector Kate Leftly said: “Falls from height remain one of the most common causes of work related fatalities in this country and the risks associated with working at height are well known.” If suitable edge protection had been installed, the tragic death of this employee could have been prevented.”

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Pete
Pete
6 years ago

So, this firm gets £100k fine for killing an employee, yet only 4 days earlier we see a report of an employee losing the tip of his right index finger in Blackburn and the company in breach is fined £120k. Is this really how much a human life is worth, £20,000 less than the tip of a finger?