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The Health and Safety Executive has issued a warning to workplaces over the falls from height risk after a construction worker was awarded £5,000 work injury compensation for a spinal injury he suffered in a fall.
The Darlington-based company at the centre of the work injury compensation case was also fined £15,000 by the HSE after pleading guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.
An HSE inspector commented, "It is totally unacceptable that so many lives of employees who work from height continue to be put at risk. Falls from height remain the most common kind of accident causing fatal injuries. Last year, 45 people died and more than 3,000 suffered a serious injury after a fall from height in the workplace. "All companies must assess the risks from work that they are undertaking at height, ensuring that the work is planned properly and appropriate measures are taken so that workers are not exposed to risk of falling. "This case illustrates why risks should always be properly assessed. This incident could have been avoided, and a man not seriously injured if a safe working plan was in place."
The man's spinal injury, which included crushed vertebrae, happened as a result of a fall from a saw horse as he attempted to reach some roof joists. He also sustained a fractured pelvis in the 5.4 metre fall.
It is not known whether the worker will now also engage the services of a no win, no fee solicitor to launch a civil work injury compensation claim.
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