The Health and Safety Executive have warned employers to ensure that all suitable safety measures are taken when employees are working at height - 12th November 2009

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have warned companies to take suitable safety measures for all employees working at heights.

The HSE’s words of caution were prompted by a workplace accident in Staffordshire where a worker suffered serious injuries after fall from height when he fell from the first floor of the building he was working on.

G Baskerville Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 in the case at Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates Court. The company was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,000.

The man’s accident at work occurred in October last year at Barnfields Industrial Estate in Staffordshire.

The man was using a power saw, when he fell through the side of the building.

The wall of the building had been removed, and although a steel girder was placed around the sides, it was not positioned correctly.

HSE investigators said that inadequate protection was to blame for the accident and all workers employed on the site were at risk.

They added that the risk of falling from heights was obviously an evident one and should have been taken into account by the employer when safety measures were being put in place.

Health and Safety Executive inspector Guy Dale added: “It is vital that if workers have to work at height that there are adequate barriers erected to prevent them from falling.”

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