Director fined for health and safety issues
A supervisor, director, and their firm have been fined for a worker’s death. The worker died after a fall from scaffolding. The incident happened at a building site in East Sussex. The HSE decided to prosecute the firm, supervisor, and director after conducting health and safety audits of the incident in 2009. It was found that negligence and defects were partially the cause of the worker’s fall.
The employee was 31 at the time of his death. It is unclear the distance he fell or the cause of the fall. However, upon inspection, health and safety measures relating to the duty of care were not present. There were several defects of the scaffolding that could have contributed to the worker’s death. This evidence was sufficient to start a case against the company, supervisor, and director. There were also prohibition notices already given to the firm, Apex Scaffolding, for unsafe working conditions. These notices were ignored by the firm.
Apex Scaffolding will pay a fine of £3,000 and £5,000 for additional costs. The director was charged £1,500 and another £2,500 for court costs. The supervisor will need to pay £2,000 in a fine and £2,500 in other costs. The firm and two employees pled guilty to the safety and health breaches, making the case simpler in terms of the court hearing. No statement was made as to whether the company has fixed the failings, but the HSE will make certain that these issues are repaired before any notices are lifted.
