Workplace accident news
28/11/2008

Industrial fatality highlights need for risk assessment

An industrial accident at a Wolverhampton textiles factory in Smethwick that resulted in the death of 62-year-old worker has highlighted the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) message regarding adequate risk assessment in the workplace.

A subcontractor was carrying out repairs on the factory roof when the employee fell 5-6 metres through a fragile rooflight in April 2007. The man later died from the serious personal injury he suffered.

The subcontractor has now been found guilty of contravening Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and has been ordered to pay £15,000 in fines, with £2,800 costs.

The electrical contractor undertaking work to the roof was also found guilty at an earlier hearing that followed the same investigation into the fatal industrial accident. His company was ordered to pay £25,000 in fines, with £2,301.
HSE Inspector Georgina Speake said, "Many incidents can be avoided if employers identify a safe way of tackling a job, provide all necessary protective equipment and ensure that workers or casual employees are fully trained and properly supervised. In this instance there were a number of optional methods and routes of access which would have greatly reduced the risk. Precautions that need to be taken to prevent falls are often simple and there is free guidance readily available to help employers take the right action."
At the time of the industrial accident the employee was accessing the roof by a ladder and then traversing across several pitched roofs belonging to factory units below.