A lift engineer was crushed to death while installing a passenger lift during the construction of Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport.
Schindler Ltd was fined £300,000 and ordered to pay £169,970 towards costs for multiple safety breaches relating to the incident, which took place on 27 October 2007.
Isleworth Crown Court heard that Kevin Dawson, 45, was working for Schindler and was part of a team installing 140 lifts in the new terminal building. He was working from a ladder within the pit of the lift shaft to install an emergency stopper. One of his colleagues used the lift car to fetch equipment from a higher level, but as the lift went up a counterweight descended, which crushed Mr Dawson and killed him instantly.
The HSE’s investigation found no evidence that Schindler had carried out a risk assessment. The company had failed to put precautions in place to prevent workers from being crushed by moving lift components. Inspectors also discovered that radio and telephone arrangements were ineffective, and workers routinely communicated by shouting up and down the lift shaft. This was potentially confusing for others were working in adjacent shafts. €
The Safety Conversation with SHP (previously the Safety and Health Podcast) aims to bring you the latest news, insights and legislation updates in the form of interviews, discussions and panel debates from leading figures within the profession.
Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts, subscribe and join the conversation today!
I think the point the inspector is making is it’s not a good idea full stop to use a tall ladder at the foot of a lift shaft. You’re right they could have isolated the lift or removed the ladder and used the lift as the work platform.
Glad to see a big fine handed our for this.
I think your missing the real issue which is one of communication. Why was the lift being moved when there was someone in the shaft working. It is common practice to use the lift as a working platform, the depth of pit, length of ladder etc and the isolation are secondary to the basic procedures of check first, ensure all clear then move.
I know I have been there many times, this was a lift under installation and the lift was clear of the pit area. The ladder was under the counterweight area.
I don’t understand this as when the lift is at its lowest door level, the lift pit usually descends some 1.5m below the bottom of the lift car. A ladder or platform is required to access the shaft sides until you can safely do so from the top of lift car.
Surely the root cause was the power supply had not been isolated & “locked off” allowing the lift to operate whist someone was working inside the shaft.
I think Schindler had a similar fatality in Leeds some 20 years ago.