Safety issues on the job in Great Britain cost one worker serious injuries and his employer a steep fine.
A Perthshire farming business has been fined for safety failings after a worker was injured when he fell more than three metres through a roof light of a cattle barn.
James Bridge, then aged 18, was clearing roof gutters at Shealwalls Farm, one of four farms run by family partnership Messrs Finlay McGowan in the Alyth area, when the incident occurred in August of 2012.
Perth Sheriff Court was told in May of this year that after being lifted by a colleague onto the roof in a basket attached to a telehandler forklift truck, Bridge walked to the far end of the roof, stepping over a PVC roof light he knew was fragile and would not take his weight.
But on his return he did not notice the roof light, which broke under his weight when he stepped on it. He fell more than three meters and landed on the concrete passageway below with his lower legs caught through a feed barrier.
He was taken to hospital with a fractured skull, bleeding inside the skull, bruising to his face and a laceration above his left eye. He was discharged the following day and has since made a full recovery from his injuries.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the workers had not been issued with instructions and their work was unsupervised. Neither of the men had been trained to work at height, let alone on fragile roof surfaces.
Failure on Safety Plan Costs Employer
The investigation concluded Messrs Finlay McGowan failed to properly plan and appropriately supervise work being carried out at height, and ensure that the work was carried out in a safe manner.
Messrs Finlay McGowan, of Incheoch Farm, Alyth, Perthshire, was fined more than $20,000 after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 4 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
Following the case, HSE Inspector Michelle Gillies, noted “This was an entirely avoidable incident. The precautions needed to prevent falls from height are basic, inexpensive and easily implemented such as using crawling boards to spread weight over a large surface and shield fragile roof sheeting or simply by using a mobile working platform.
“Messrs Finlay McGowan should have carried out a risk assessment before work started. This would have identified hazards as well as measures that would have eliminated or reduced the risks to the health and safety of the partnership’s employees.”
Falls through fragile roofs and fragile roof lights account for nearly a fifth of all the fatal incidents due to a fall from height in the construction industry.
On average, seven people are killed yearly after falling through a fragile roof or fragile roof light. Many others suffer permanent disabling injury.
Author Kori Shafer-Stack, Editor, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in post-injury response procedures and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: kstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.
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