Substantial Fine | Employee Injured | Kangs Health and Safety Regulatory Solicitors
Sheffield Magistrates’ Court has imposed a substantial fine upon a Leicestershire based sign fitting contractor (‘the company’) which pleaded guilty to breaching Health & Safety Regulations which resulted in an employee suffering serious burns.
Amandeep Murria of Kangs Solicitors sets out the circumstances.
The Circumstances | Kangs Solicitors Health and Safety Team
- The employee was using a breaker tool to dig several holes at a Hotel in Bramley to accommodate signage posts when he struck a mains electricity cable.
- The employee suffered extensive burns to his face and body.
- An investigation was undertaken by The Health & Safety Executive, which discovered the company had failed to:
- provide adequate training on how to correctly use the breaker tool
- carry out a proper risk assessment to establish if a mains electricity line was present, before the digging of the holes commenced.
The Relevant Law | Kangs Regulatory Law Advisors
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (‘the Act’) provides:
‘2 General duties of employers to their employees.
(1) It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of an employer’s duty under the preceding subsection, the matters to which that duty extends include in particular—
(a) the provision and maintenance of plant and systems of work that are, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risks to health;
(b) arrangements for ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable, safety and absence of risks to health in connection with the use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances;
(c) the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of his employees;
(d) so far as is reasonably practicable as regards any place of work under the employer’s control, the maintenance of it in a condition that is safe and without risks to health and the provision and maintenance of means of access to and egress from it that are safe and without such risks;
(e) the provision and maintenance of a working environment for his employees that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work.’
The Hearing | Kangs Health and Safety Solicitors
Having pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 2 (1) of the Act the company was:
•fined £35,000
• ordered to pay Prosecution Costs of £2,475
An Inspector from the Health & Safety Executive, Sarah Robinson, was quoted as saying:
“This wholly avoidable incident was caused by the failure of the company to appropriately plan and execute a safe system of work whilst fitting the signs."
“Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards.”
How Can We Help?| Kangs Safety At Work 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
07976 258171 | 020 7936 6396 | 0121 449 9888
John Veale
jveale@kangssolicitors.co.uk
0121 449 9888 | 020 7936 6396
Amandeep Murria
amurria@kangssolicitors.co.uk
020 7936 6396 | 0121 449 9888
Helen Holder
hholder@kanngssolicitors.co.uk
0121 449 9888 | 020 7936 6396
