Employee Falls From Height Whilst Installing Bird Deterrent Spikes
Back in May 2020, a man working an engineering company suffered serious injuries to his head and left arm after falling through a fragile roof.
The installer fell six metres from a roof whilst installing bird deterrent spikes. The HSE found that the task was not part of the normal workload for employees of the company. Not only this no suitable risk assessment was put in place for the work.
The lack of planning meant that reasonably practicable and recognised control measures that could have prevented the man falling from height, such as the use of purpose designed access equipment and over-boarding of fragile roof surfaces, had not been implemented.
The engineering company was fined £14k after pleading guilty to breaching Regulations 4(1)(a) and 4(1)(c) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. They were also ordered to pay £6,541.80 in costs.
Consider your employees safety before they enter the site or begin work. A risk assessment goes a long way in preventing accidents such as this.
