G Baskerville Slapped with £6,000 Fine for Not Ensuring Safety of Workers
In a recent prosecution, Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates Court fined G Baskerville Ltd a sum of 8000 pounds in addition to costs of 6000 pounds after an employee of the firm sustained serious injuries when he fell off from a height while working. Earlier the company had pleaded guilty to charges of violating Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
The incident, which took place on October 30, 2008, occurred at Barnfields Industrial Estate in Staffordshire, when an employee was working with a power saw on the first floor of a building. There were no walls in the building and an inadequately positioned steel girder protected the sides. The employee fell through a gap in the girder and sustained serious injuries.
After the fall, the worker had to be sedated for three weeks after which he was hospitalized for another three weeks. In fact, there was a time when the hospital thought he might succumb to his injuries.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Guy Dale stated that the steel girder protecting the sides of the building were improperly placed and had huge gaps in between. HSE is now urging all employers to ensure proper barricades are in place to prevent the recurrence of any such incident.
According to HSE, the lack of proper safety measures in the present case could have led to more accidents, as there were many workers working on the building without any barricades to prevent falls.
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