Fined for the Height of Failure

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A Stockport business has been fined after one of its workers fell from height.

The company, Stockport based Solutions SK, was found guilty after a worker sustained a broken heel when he fell from a ladder while installing cables for an alarm system.

As the man started to descend the ladder, it slipped. He jumped from it and sustained a fractured heel and was off work for six months. The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the incident – which occurred on 26 September 2013 – and decided to prosecute.

Solutions SK – a former winner of a RoSPA award in 2010 – pleaded guilty at Macclesfield Magistrates’ Court to a breach of Regulation 4(1)(a) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, in that it failed to properly plan work at height. HSE found that no specific risk assessment or procedure in place to ensure work at height was adequately planned.

The HSE website explains what employers need to do to protect employees when they work at height. For further information, visit the website: www.hse.gov.uk/work-at-height

Picture for Illustration Purposes Only: Solutions UK was fined for failing to plan and instigate a risk assessment, leading to a fall from height of one of its workers.

Article written by Mike Gannon

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