FALL FROM STEPLADDER CAUSED DEATH
Stepladder too short to reach the first floor
A sole trader has been prosecuted for failing to ensure the safety of an employee who died when he fell from a stepladder whilst carrying out construction work in North Yorkshire.
Derek Wensley was working for Peter Wright (trading as PW Joinery and Building Services) when fell from an “unsecured stepladder” whilst moving from the ground to the first floor of a two-storey extension carrying a bucket of mortar.
Teeside Crown Court heard that the stepladder used was too short to reach the first floor, accessed through a gap in the flooring between joists.
Risk assessment would have identified failings
HSE told the hearing the incident could easily have been avoided. Peter Wright had not carried out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment and failed to plan and supervise work at height appropriately.
A risk assessment would have identified failings in the standard of access to and from the first floor and ensured that a safe system of work was implemented.
Mr Wright pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to a single charge of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Peter Wright trading as PW Joinery and Building Services of West End Cottage, Baldersby, Thirsk, was fined £10,000 with £19,000 costs.
HSE inspector Yolande Burns-Sleightholme said after the hearing:
“The failure by Mr Wright to comply with his legal duty of care to those working on site led to this worker suffering fatal injuries. The potential for this was always present.
All employers need to ensure that risks from height are fully considered. HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those who fall so far below the required standards”
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