![PP Construction Safety logo and link to home page [1]](http://www.ppconstructionsafety.com/wp-content/themes/ppcs960/images/ppcslogo.jpg)
Glazing contractor prosecuted following ‘unfooted’ ladder fall incident
Direct Window Co (Craig Goss T/A) has been fined after an employee was seriously injured in a fall from a ladder.
The 68-year-old fell some 5m and landed on a concrete patio as he used the ladder to measure a bathroom window on 5 April 2011. He suffered a broken knee and ankle, four broken ribs, a punctured lung and a badly damaged right foot. He has been unable to return to work due to the extent of his injuries.
HSE investigators found he worked alone “without anyone at the foot of the ladder to stop it falling” and that he had done so ”on several occasions” without anyone monitoring what he was doing.
Absence of checks on what workman was doing
Craig Goss pleaded guilty to a breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 by failing to ensure the work was properly planned, adequately supervised and carried out in a safe manner and was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay £2,000 in prosecution costs on 23 November 2011.
Speaking after the hearing, the investigating inspector at HSE, Allen Shute, said:
“The employee at Direct Window Co was allowed to work on his own without anyone checking what he was doing, contrary to established company policies.
Craig Goss should simply never have allowed this to happen and, as a result, the worker has suffered several major injuries which have kept him off work for months.
Workers can easily be killed or seriously injured in a fall of just a few metres. It’s therefore vital employers properly manage work at height.”