LADDER ACCIDENTS

A firm has been fined £3,500 and ordered to pay costs of £3,000 after an employee broke his back after falling from an unsecured ladder at a Norfolk chicken processing firm after admitting breaching of Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 at Lowestoft Magistrates' Court

Factory worker Peter Sherwood, 61, from near Lowestoft, fell just over 2.5 metres on to a concrete floor suffering broken vertebrae to his lower spine when he was using an unsecured ladder at Crown Chicken Limited's factory in Weybread, Diss. He wasn’t able to work for six months.

Health and Safety Executive investigations revealed that on 24 July 2010 Mr Sherwood had been allowed by a supervisor at the factory to assist another employee to carry out a maintenance task, but the work was not adequately planned and the company had not provided information to its staff on how to use ladders safely.

Crown Chicken Ltd admitted breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at Lowestoft Magistrates' Court today and was fined £3,500 and ordered to pay costs of £3,000.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector said:

"Mr Sherwood was taken from his usual duties and asked to carry out a task for which he was neither properly trained nor supervised. As a result he suffered a serious and extremely painful injury which caused him to be off work for months.

"

More workers are injured by falling from a ladder than any other access equipment. Crown Chicken should have been aware of this and ensured that adequate systems were in place so that its employees were not put at risk.

"

HSE will not hesitate to take employers to court and seek tough penalties if they are found to be taking a lax attitude to their workers' safety."

Helen Grieves, Principal Solicitor at Grieves Solicitors states that section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees." This was clearly not done in this case and lead to an injury that could easily have been avoided.

For help obtaining compensation in relation to accidents at work, please contact her ringing 0800 0747 644 or by e-mail on helen.grieves@grieves-soliciors.co.uk

back to main news page