Lincoln College fined after window cleaner falls from roof

Date:

11 May 2010

Release No:

HSE/EM08/10

Lincoln College has today been fined £1,500 after a window cleaner fell four metres - suffering broken ribs and a serious back injury.

James Theaker, 50, from Lincoln, was employed by A Nicoll & Son Ltd, when he was contracted to clean windows at Lincoln College, Monks Road in the city on 4 November 2008.

Mr Theaker accessed the roof of the main reception building using a ladder and leaned against the building to clean nearby windows, when he fell.

He spent a week in hospital and was forced to stay off work for months. Even now he can only carry out restricted duties.

Lincoln College pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999 at Lincoln Magistrates' Court today for failing to conduct a sufficient risk assessment. As well as the fine, the college was also ordered to pay £9,500 towards prosecution costs.

A Nicoll & Son Ltd, of Crofton Drive, Allenby Road Industrial Estate was prosecuted in October 2009 by HSE after pleading guilty for its role in the incident and was fined £2,500 and ordered to pay costs of £2,948.20.

Following the hearing, HSE Inspector Judith McNulty-Green said:

"Mr Theaker has suffered life-changing injuries as a result of his fall. Lincoln College had a legal duty to check its contractors had proper procedures in place but failed to do so.

"Every month more than a thousand people suffer serious injuries as a result of slips, trips and falls in the workplace. These shattering injuries can be avoided by sensible and proportionate assessment of the risks, but sadly that was not done in this case.

"Employers and organisations that hire contract staff have a joint responsibility to ensure the safety of all staff who work on site, to avoid serious incidents such as this."

Notes to editors

1. Regulation 3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999 sates: "Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of (a) the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work; and (b) the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking."
2. More information about height awareness is available online: www.hse.gov.uk/falls/campaign/
3. A free leaflet about the use of contractors is available online: www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg368.htm

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