Leamington firm fined for unsafe work at height

Date:

18 May 2011

Release No:

WM431/11

A Leamington Spa clutch manufacturer has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for putting its staff at risk when working at height.

An employee of Raicam Clutch Ltd was asked by management to investigate a leak on a flat roof at the company's premises in Tachbrook House, Tachbrook Road on 30 July 2009. While walking across the roof the employee caught his foot in a trailing cable and fell approximately three and a half metres to the ground below.

Leamington Spa Magistrates' Court heard the roof had no guard rails and nothing to hold onto. There was also no safety protection below the roof such as a birdcage scaffold, netting or soft landing bags to protect him from the fall.

The employee, who does not want to be named, sustained five broken vertebrae and whiplash to his neck. It was four months before he could return to work.

Raicam Clutch Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 (as amended) and was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £4,952 costs.

HSE Inspector Mark Austin said:

"It is fortunate this incident did not end in a fatality. But as if this was not enough the employer sent a second person onto this section of the roof, under the same conditions, to investigate the initial incident.

"This was an entirely foreseeable incident which could have been avoided if Raicam Clutch Ltd had implemented safety precautions accepted within the industry as normal working practices.

"Roofing work requires careful planning and assessment of the risks involved. In this case, an employee was working without any protection to prevent him falling which is completely unacceptable.

"Falls from height are the biggest cause of workplace deaths and it's crucial that employers make sure work is properly planned, appropriately supervised and that sufficient measures are put in place to protect staff from the risks. Clear guidance on working at height is available from HSE."

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk
2. Regulation 4 (1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 (as amended) states that every employer shall ensure that work at height is -
   1. properly planned;
   2. appropriately supervised; and
   3. carried out in a manner which is so far as is reasonably practicable safe,
   and that its planning includes the selection of work equipment in accordance with Regulation 7.
3. HSE guidance on working at height is available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls/campaign/wahthebasics.pdf

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Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by COI News & PR West Midlands