08.08.2005

Kier fined £7,000 for fall

Kier Regional Ltd was fined £7,000 at City of London Magistrates Court and ordered to pay court costs of £2,640, after pleading guilty to two counts of breaching the Health & Safety at Work act.

The prosecution covered a fall by a 21 year man working on a roof at a site in Kensington, London in August 2004. The man, Miguel Olivares fell down a 20 metre ventilation shaft after he stepped on a black plastic sheet which was covering the top of the shaft.

In their failure to ensure that the hole had suitable and sufficient guard rails to prevent the fall of a person, Kier Regional Ltd contravened construction regulations. This amounted to an offence under Section 33 (1) (c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

The company’s second offence under the Act was the unkempt condition of the site. Materials were stored haphazardly, raising the risks of slips and trips by workers and making emergency evacuation potentially difficult. Its failing to ensure the site was kept in good order and in a reasonable state of cleanliness also contravened construction regulations.

HSE inspector Barry Mullen said:

“Falls from height are still the biggest cause of injury on construction sites, and all employers, large and small, must take effective measures to prevent accidents and injuries. This incident could easily have been prevented by simple measures such as guarding the hole and clearly highlighting what it was. But the state of the site as a whole was poor, putting the workers at a high risk of slips and trips. Employers can avoid this by keeping sites tidy and storing goods safely.”