25.09.2008

Prosecution Prompts HSE Warning on Working at Height

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning of the risks of working at height, after an Essex worker fell from a ladder and suffered severe injuries, including a broken neck.

Lakeside Container Services Ltd, of London Road, Grays, Essex was fined £13,400 with £3,380 costs. The company pleaded guilty to breaching section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and regulation 6(1) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998.

HSE prosecuted the company over an incident on 21 September 2007. An employee fell 7.5m off a ladder when it slipped while balanced on shipping containers, breaking his neck in two places, his skull and his leg in two places. As a result of the incident the worker needed six months off work and had to change his role at the company on his return.

The employee had used a ladder to climb the shipping containers after two containers were lifted at once, and the top container needed to be secured as it moved during the lift. An investigation by the HSE revealed that the process of moving two containers at once was unsafe and there was a lack of planning and risk assessment for securing the containers once they had moved in transit.