Serious Injuries Suffered By Employee | Kangs Health and Safety Regulatory Solicitors
In April 2018, at Greater Manchester Magistrates’ Court, a home improvements company (‘the company’) was fined and ordered to pay costs after a worker fell from a garage roof sustaining extremely serious injuries.
Amandeep Murria of Kangs Solicitors sets out the circumstances.
The Circumstances | Kangs Solicitors Health and Safety Team
The Court heard that on the 11th May 2015 an employee of the company was working on a garage roof when he fell onto the driveway of the property next door suffering various fractures and a collapsed lung.
The Health & Safety Executive investigation revealed that the company had not immediately reported the accident and, in waiting nine months, had failed in its duty to report the accident within the required timeframe.
The Relevant Law | Kangs Regulatory Law Advisors
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (‘the Regulations’) provide that:
Non-fatal injuries to workers
4.—(1) Where any person at work, as a result of a work-related accident, suffers—
(a) any bone fracture diagnosed by a registered medical practitioner, other than to a finger, thumb or toe;
(b) amputation of an arm, hand, finger, thumb, leg, foot or toe;
(c) any injury diagnosed by a registered medical practitioner as being likely to cause permanent blinding or reduction in sight in one or both eyes;
(d) any crush injury to the head or torso causing damage to the brain or internal organs in the chest or abdomen;
(e) any burn injury (including scalding) which—
(i) covers more than 10% of the whole body’s total surface area; or
(ii) causes significant damage to the eyes, respiratory system or other vital organs;
(f) any degree of scalping requiring hospital treatment;
(g) loss of consciousness caused by head injury or asphyxia; or
(h) any other injury arising from working in an enclosed space which—
(i) leads to hypothermia or heat-induced illness; or
(ii) requires resuscitation or admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours,
the responsible person must follow the reporting procedure.
(2) Where any person at work is incapacitated for routine work for more than seven consecutive days (excluding the day of the accident) because of an injury resulting from an accident arising out of or in connection with that work, the responsible person must send a report to the relevant enforcing authority in an approved manner as soon as practicable and in any event within 15 days of the accident.
(3) This regulation is subject to regulations 14 and 15.
The Hearing | Kangs Health and Safety Solicitors
The company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4 (1) a of the Regulations and was fined £2,700 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £1,000.
An Inspector from the Health & Safety Executive Seve Gomez-Aspron was quoted as saying:
“This incident could so easily have been avoided had the company simply carried
out correct control measures and safe working practices.
Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take out appropriate
enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards”.
How Can We Help? | Kangs Health and Safety Solicitors
Who Can I Contact For Help? | Kangs National Criminal Defence Solicitors
Please feel free to contact our team through any of the solicitors named below who will be happy to provide you with some initial advice and assistance.
Hamraj Kang
hkang@kangssolicitors.co.uk
Tel: 07976 258171 | 020 7936 6396 | 0121 449 9888
John Veale
jveale@kangssolicitors.co.uk
Tel: 0121 449 9888 | 020 7936 6396
Tim Thompson
tthompson@kangssolicitors.co.uk
Tel: 020 7936 6396 | 0121 449 9888
Suki Randhawa
srandhawa@kangssolicitors.co.uk
Tel: 0121 449 9888 | 020 7936 6396
