HSE/WM/350/07 23 November 2007

HSE issues work at height warning after Stourbridge glazing firm fined

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) today warned employers and the self-employed to ensure safe systems of work are in place when working at height. The warning follows HSE’s prosecution of a Stourbridge glazing company after an employee was injured in a fall.

Jaysee Glass and Glazing Ltd of Lye, Stourbridge was fined £4,500 and ordered to pay costs of £1,278 at Dudley Magistrates Court on Thursday 22nd November 2007 after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 5(1) of The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, Regulation 13 of The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and Regulation 8(e) of The Work at Height Regulations 2005.

On 5 February 2007, Michael Norton was working as part of a three-man team replacing vandalised windows in the Next Generation Leisure Centre, Brierley Hill. He was using half of a double ladder set that had been split to allow two men to work at height. The ladders were not secured and the one being used by Mr Norton slid sideways, causing him to fall approximately two metres to the ground. He fractured his wrist and received a puncture wound to the back of his hand when part of the glazing unit that he was carrying up the ladder fell onto the back of his hand. 

The ladder in use was damaged, the feet were missing and it was being used without stability devices. The company was aware of the damage to the ladder and suitable stability equipment was not available in the van taken to site. Totally insufficient training was given to employees and, immediately following the fall of Mr Norton, another employee on site, although not a glazier, use the same unsecured, damaged ladder to complete the task of installing the glazing unit.

HSE inspector, Karl Raw, said: “Each year people lose their lives or suffer injury due to failures to provide the right equipment for working at height or maintaining equipment. Underlying this is failure to assess risks, plan for safety or train employees.

“In this case, working from an improvised ladder set-up with damaged and inadequate equipment was completely unacceptable and could have resulted in much more serious injury, or even death.  For this type and level of work, scaffold towers should have been loaded into the van and used correctly. This would have allowed the work to be completed safely without risk of falls resulting in injury.

“It was gratifying to see that the magistrates also clearly recognised that there is absolutely no substitute for proper training.”

Note to editors:

1. Regulation 5(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 states: “Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair”
2. Regulation 8(e)  of The Work at Height Regulations 2005 states: “ Every employer shall ensure that a ladder is used for work at height only if a risk assessment under regulation 3 of the Management Regulations has demonstrated that the use of more suitable work equipment is not justified because of the low risk and the short duration of use or existing features on site which he cannot alter”
3. Regulation 13 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 states: “(1) Every employer shall in entrusting tasks to his employees, take into account their capabilities as regards health and safety. (2) Every employer shall ensure that his employees are provided with adequate health and safety training on their being recruited into the employer’s undertaking and on their being exposed to new or increased risks because of their being transferred  or given a change of responsibilities within the employer’s undertaking, the introduction of new work equipment into or a change respecting work equipment already in use within the employer’s undertaking, the introduction of new technology into the employer’s undertaking or the introduction of a new system of work into or a change respecting a system of work  already in use within the employer’s undertaking. The training referred to in (2) shall be repeated periodically where appropriate , be adapted to take account of any new or changed risks to the health and safety of the employees concerned and take place during work hours.
4. In 2005/06 a total of 46 workers died and and a further 3351 employees suffered major injury as a result of a fall from height in the workplace. Many of these incidents could have been avoided using the right equipment for the job and using it safely. HSE has been working closely with ladder retailers and hirers in an effort to remove an estimated 4,000 dodgy ladders from workplaces throughout the UK. More information falls from height can be found on HSE’s website at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls/index.htm

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