LIFE CHANGING INJURIES CAUSED BY STUDIO FALL
BBC Studioworks Ltd and contractors failed to ensure ‘basic safeguards’
Three companies have been fined after a workman fell more than 10m at Elstree Film Studios in Hertfordshire in November 2014.
Harrow Crown Court heard how Eric Ihoeghinlan fell through a lighting grid hatch whilst recovering electric cables for BBC Studioworks Ltd during a de-rigging operation.
He sustained multiple injuries including a blood clot to the brain, fractured pelvis and ankles, and a ruptured spleen. Due to the brain damage caused it is unknown if he will ever work again.
Edge protection missing
HSE investigators found the hatches of the lighting grids and the ends of one grid were not provided with edge protection to prevent a fall.
BBC Studioworks Ltd – pleaded to breaching Sections 2 and 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and was fined £200,000 and ordered to pay costs of more than £6,000.
Elstree Film Studios Ltd – was found guilty of breaching Regulation 3 and Regulation 11 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.The company was fined £16,000 and ordered to pay costs of more than £39,000.
Elstree Light and Power Ltd – was found guilty of breaching Sections 2 and 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay costs of more than £39,000.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Principal inspector Graham Tompkins said:
“The employee’s injuries were life-changing and he could have easily been killed. This serious incident and the devastation caused could have been avoided if basic safe guards had been put in place.
Falls from height remain one of the most common causes of work related fatalities in this country and the risks associated with working at height are well known”.
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