Work accident highlights the risk of falls

Despite Great Britain having one the lowest work accident rates in the EU, work injuries and workplace mishaps are still very common. It is thought that each year, there are 1.6 million work injuries resulting in 3-4 days off.

Working at heights is one of the most dangerous situations workers find themselves in. Around 50 people die each year in the UK due to falling from a height and over 4,500 are injured.

Labourers working at a height, such as builders or industrial plant workers are twice as likely as employees in other job sectors to suffer from non – fatal work related accidents. Tripping and falling are the biggest problems amongst the working segment.

A Health and safety inspector said: “Falls remain the biggest cause of fatal injuries in Great Britain [...]The fact that serious injury can result from falls of any kind makes it all the more essential for employers to have safe working procedures for working at height.”

They furthered: “It should not be necessary for each generation to rediscover principles of safety which the generation before already discovered. We must learn from the experience of others rather than learn the hard way. The HSE will not tolerate employers exposing their employees to unacceptable risks at work.”
Falling foul to work violations

A recent work accident case has highlighted the importance of a strict safety regime in the workplace, after an employee fell from height.

In 2007, a Dairy Crest employee received personal injuries in Telford, Shropshire due to faulty metal.

Telford Magistrates court heard how a milk bi-product effluent pit was being emptied and the contents drawn, via a three inch diameter hose, into a big tanker. The employee was using the water from a hot water hose to melt solidifying milk bi-products in the pit.

Metal grating was placed over the pit, but it did not fit correctly, hence was not secure. The 57-year-old worker slipped and fell into the six foot deep pit. He sustained injuries to his groin, which later needed surgery.

No measures had been previously taken to secure the grating or protect anyone from falling into the pit. The metal gratings also were not properly maintained, so they could have caved in at any time.

As a result, the court ordered Dairy Crest Limited to pay £18,000 in fines, in addition to £2,675 costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
HSE warn companies not to milk it

The accident at work has prompted the HSE to remind businesses of the importance of enforcing safe systems of work and ensuring that plants are well maintained.

HSE inspector David Kivlin said: "Regulations require employers to not only ensure that a safe system of work is followed but also that plant and equipment is safe to use. It is essential that covers and gratings of pits, containing free-flowing solids and liquids, are of a suitable and sufficient construction and well-maintained. This should minimise the risk of them giving way.”

He concluded: “Employers should remember that falls remain one of the biggest killers of workers and in most cases the precautions needed are simple. There is ample free guidance readily available from HSE to help companies take the right action.”