Electrical equipment firm fined for fall safety failures

A company that produces electrical testing devices has been fined following an incident that left one of its employees in hospital after he fell around four metres from a bungalow roof.

Instruments & Gauges Electronics Ltd was taken to court following the incident in March of 2014, following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The unnamed worker was trying to repair a broken ridge tile when the incident happened. Having used his ladder to reach the flat roof of a conservatory towards the rear of the Southport bungalow, the worker pulled the ladder up, standing it on the surface.

However, as he was making his way up the ladder to the broken tile, he fell, breaking his back and sustaining a number of serious injuries. He was found by a tenant in the property and, having been taken to hospital in an ambulance, spent a week in its high dependency unit.

He could not return to work for nearly 19 weeks.

The subsequent HSE investigation found that the firm had conducted no planning ahead of the work taking place. It also revealed that there was no supervision in place at the time of the incident, as well as no provision of suitable personal protective equipment (PPE), such as a safety harness or a scaffold platform.

The investigation also found that the company failed to report the incident, further breaking the law. As such, the firm received a fine of £6,000 and was ordered to pay costs of £961 after entering a guilty plea.