>>
Site Map
>>
Forums
>>
UK News
Forum module - topics in forum:
UK News - Breaking news in the field of health and safety
Ladders not often a suitable workplace
A prosecution has highlighted the need for employers conducting risk assessment to look closely when considering whether a ladder is a safe place of work for certain activities and not, perhaps, just reserved for use as a means of access.
A 23-year-old security service engineer, an employee of Optyma Security Systems Ltd of Bexleyheath, received an electric shock and fell from a ladder while servicing a CCTV camera on top of a 6-metre-high mast at Greenwich University's Avery Hill campus. He sustained a fractured skull in the fall.
At the City of London Magistrates' Court Optyma pleaded guilty to breaching S.2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 in that it failed to ensure his health, safety and welfare, for which it was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £3,000 compensation to the injured person, plus costs of £2,616.
Comment
"This case highlights the importance of choosing the right method of access for work that has to be done at height. Every year about 80 people are killed and more than 5,500 seriously injured as a result of falling from a height. Ladders are not always suitable. In particular, when workers need to use both hands to do the job, mobile elevating work platforms are the best choice." - HSE Inspector
