Southampton yacht repair company in the dock

Date:

16 October 2012

Release No:

LSE/190/12

Southampton company Hamble Yacht Services Ltd has been sentenced for safety failings after a worker fell whilst repairing a yacht.

Adam Whiteaway, 26, from Southampton, was working on a platform filling holes when support planks gave way. He fell nearly two metres, severely bruising his ribs and was off work for a month.

The incident, on 14 June 2011, was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which prosecuted the company for two safety breaches.

Southampton Magistrates' Court heard today (16 October) that the platform Mr Whiteaway was working on had not been correctly installed and inspected to ensure his safety.

HSE Inspectors found that two support bars on the staging were missing and this caused the sides to move apart and the boards to collapse. The fall could have been prevented if the company had taken simple steps to regularly inspect the staging before its use.

The company, of Port Hamble, Hampshire, was fined a total of £20,000 and ordered to pay £3,805 in costs after admitting two breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

After the hearing, HSE inspector, Alec Ryan said:

"This incident was avoidable. Hamble Yacht Services Ltd should have recognised the risks and taken the measures necessary to prevent the working platform from collapsing.

"You don't have to fall from a great height to lose your life. Workers should not have to suffer preventable injuries because simple steps have not been taken to manage obvious workplace risks. It is vital all work is properly planned, assessed and then implemented.

"Work at height is inherently dangerous and if not managed properly can result in serious injury or even death. This hearing serves as a further reminder of the serious risks posed when employees work at height."

For advice on working safely at height go to www.hse.gov.uk/falls

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related 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 states: "Every employer shall ensure work at height is properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out in a manner which is so far as is reasonably practicable safe."
3. Regulation 12(2) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 states: "Every employer shall ensure that, where the safety of work equipment depends on how it is installed or assembled, it is not used after installation or assembly in any position unless it has been inspected in that position."

Press enquiries

Regional reporters should call the appropriate Regional News Network press office.

Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by the Regional News Network