Dangerous Skip Hijinks Caught on Video Result in Fine for Company

Posted: May 16, 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 was witnessed riding on top of a fully laden skip wagon as it reversed into the site.

Speaking after the Burnley Magistrates’ Court hearing this week, HSE Inspector David Myrtle said:

“Falls from height are a major cause of workplace deaths in Great Britain. It’s for this reason that HSE takes work at height seriously and expects employers, such as Mr Jones, to do the same.
“He knew that raising his employee in the bucket of the telehandler was wrong but thought that since the job would only take a minute it would be ok.
“That minute has cost Mr Jones dearly but had the employee fallen from the bucket then the cost to him and his family would have been immeasurable. It’s never ok to put someone’s life in danger – no matter how long it lasts.”