A healthcare firm has been ordered to pay over £250,000 after the death of a worker who fell nearly six metres from scaffolding.
Peter Winchurch, a self-employed joiner, has been hired to help build an extension to a semi-detached house on Bromilow Road in Skelmersdale when the incident happened on 9 November 2009.
TRU Ltd, which specialises in providing rehabilitation for people with brain injuries, also took on some building projects.
The company, which was in charge of the construction site, was prosecuted by the HSE after an investigation found the scaffolding was dangerous.
During a five-day trial at Liverpool Crown Court, the jury heard that the scaffolding on the site was dangerous due in particular to a lack of guardrails and inadequate decking.
Additionally, TRU Ltd’s site employees were not trained in safety, there were no risk assessments and there were no method statements.
Mr Winchurch, 68 from Skelmersdale, had been working on the roof trusses for the extension to the house when he fell from the scaffolding. He suffered critical head injuries and died in hospital the following day.
On 22 November 2013 TRU Ltd, which now trades as TRU (Transitional Rehabilitation Unit) Ltd, was found guilty of breaching section 2(1) and section 3(1) of the HSWA 1974. The company, of Haydock Lane in Haydock, was fined £170,000 and ordered to pay costs of £82,145.
Following the hearing, HSE inspector Anthony Polec, said: “The failings by TRU Ltd were a significant cause of Mr Winchurch’s tragic death. The scaffolding was clearly dangerous, which meant that the risk of a worker being killed or seriously injured in a fall was highly foreseeable.
“The safeguards required were reasonable, and there is much published guidance on the subject from the HSE and the construction industry.”
Approaches to managing the risks associated Musculoskeletal disorders
In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, we hear from Matt Birtles, Principal Ergonomics Consultant at HSE’s Science and Research Centre, about the different approaches to managing the risks associated with Musculoskeletal disorders.
Matt, an ergonomics and human factors expert, shares his thoughts on why MSDs are important, the various prevalent rates across the UK, what you can do within your own organisation and the Risk Management process surrounding MSD’s.
If by the age of 68 risk perception is so poor in regard to what constitutes a safe working platform when working at height, what hope is there for many others involved in similar task throughout the country?
Truely Tragic.
If you cannot determine what is a safe working environment when working at height you would be better off avoiding such work? Competence implies an understanding of the risk involved, and until this is resolved little improvement will take place.