Pages On: Falls from Heights
Workplaces hold a duty of care to their staff to prevent accidents. Falls from heights are some of the most dangerous and preventable forms of accident at work. If your employer has failed in their duty of care to you, and you have suffered a fall from a height, it may be lucky if you walk away with your life. They are the top cause of fatal injury at work, and are a blight in construction and agriculture industries. If you or a loved one has suffered a workplace injury and are not at fault, you may be entitled to claim personal injury compensation for the employer negligence.
Dangers of the Construction Industry: The Most Common Accidents
Posted: 21 December 2015
Posted in: Falls from Heights, Workplace Injuries, Workplace Slip
Despite continued efforts to improve health and safety in the workplace, the vast majority of accidents still occur in workplaces or on the roads. Sadly, the construction industry remains one of the most dangerous workplaces, with some injuries being exceptionally common. In the last year, there were 35 fatal injuries to workers in construction, 22% lower than the five-year average. However, workplace accidents on construction sites are still exceptionally common. We take a look at some of the most common injuries and what you can do if you are involved…
Read More
Sole Trader Fined Following Life-Changing Injuries to Worker
Posted: 30 November 2015
Posted in: Employer Negligence, Falls from Heights, Workplace Injuries
A self-employed roofer has been sentenced for failing to employ proper health and safety guidelines that led to a worker falling from the roof of a house and suffering severe injuries. As a result of the injuries, Brian Honeyman will reside in a care home for the rest of his life after the 50-year-old suffered serious head and spinal injuries. Mr Honeyman had been helping Adam Menzies, a self-employed roofer from Falkirk, to help with the job in 2012 before he fell off the roof, suffering severe injuries. A subsequent…
Read More
Glasgow Window Cleaner Without Safety Equipment Sparks Concern
Posted: 1 June 2015
Posted in: Falls from Heights, Workplace Injuries
A video of a Glasgow window cleaner working on the fourth floor of a tenement building without any safety equipment has sparked fears over people working a height. The video, which was captured by an onlooker and published by The Telegraph sparked fears over employees working at height. The video shows a window cleaner with no harness or ladder precariously standing on a ledge to clean windows. HSE Concern The Health and Safety Executive stated that they could not comment as it was unknown if the man was connected to…
Read More
How Safe Are Employment Standards in The UK's Construction Sector
Posted: 13 November 2014
Posted in: Asbestos Exposure, Employer Negligence, Falls from Heights, Workplace Injuries
Around 40% of construction sites fail to meet health and safety standards according to the national regulator for workplace health and safety, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Almost half of the close to 1,750 sites were found to have unacceptable conditions with some workers partaking in dangerous working practices. The report comes weeks after analysis from the HSE found that there were just under 2000 accidents and injuries in construction across the UK last year, with manufacturing having 3159 reported. Enforcement Action The latest findings from the HSE report found…
Read More
Employee Paralysed After Suffering Fall at Work
Posted: 12 June 2014
Posted in: Employer Negligence, Falls from Heights, Spine & Back Injuries, Workplace Injuries
Inex Works Ltd, a landscaping and gritting company, has pled guilty to breaching the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and fined £13,500 for failing to provide suitable safety protection for their workers. In 2010, one of Inex Works Ltd’s workers, Mr Shields, suffered permanent damage to his spine having climbed on top of a gritter and subsequently fallen 3 metres. He was attempting to help colleagues clear compressed grit salt from the interior of a machine used to treat icy roads. Since the fall, he has been paralysed from the…
Read More
Glasgow Company Sentenced After Employee’s Fall
Posted: 6 June 2014
Posted in: Arm Injury, Employer Negligence, Falls from Heights, Leg Injuries, Workplace Injuries
A firm of contractors in Glasgow was fined at Glasgow Sheriff Court earlier this week (4 June 2014) in relation to Health and Safety failings that caused an employee to fall five metres through a roof light. David Jack, aged 53 at the time of the workplace accident, was sub-contracted to work in his capacity as a painter and decorator when he fell through a fibreglass roof light. He suffered a cut leg requiring stitches, a blunt force abdominal injury and his wrist was sprained. These injuries resulted in an…
Read More
Health & Safety Breaches Result in Employee's Paralysis
Posted: 23 May 2014
Posted in: Employer Negligence, Falls from Heights, Spine & Back Injuries, Workplace Injuries
A construction firm has been fined and ordered to pay costs after breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 resulted in a worker being left paralysed from the waist down. The employee of Habitat Construction LLP was working as a part of a property refurbishing team when he fell eight metres from an unguarded window space into a basement. He landed on a concrete floor, causing severe damage to his spinal cord. After a hearing that resulted in the firm being fined £110,000 and ordered to…
Read More
Dangerous Skip Hijinks Caught on Video Result in Fine for Company
Posted: 16 May 2014
Posted in: Employer Negligence, Falls from Heights, Workplace Injuries
A skip hire firm owner has been fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £1,039 costs after he put an employee’s life in danger by lifting him in a digger bucket. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted him after a member of the public videoed the incident (available to view on YouTube here) that involved an employee trying to remove a small piece of damaged plywood above the main shutter doors. The owner had received a previous warning from HSE only two months before the incident after the same employee…
Read More