Barricades are Essential while Working at Heights, Says HSE
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has always urged employers to practice safe working processes to ensure overall safety at workplace and reduce costs of litigation arising out of negligence. The latest in this context is its notification regarding construction of proper barriers at sites where workers are working at heights.
This caution comes after an accident that took place in October last year, where the employers pleaded guilty to charges of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. In this accident, an employee working on the first floor of a building at Barnfields Industrial Estate in Staffordshire fell down to the ground and sustained grave injuries.
The injuries were so serious that the doctors initially thought the worker would die. However, after six weeks of hospitalisation, three of which were under complete sedation, he recovered.
HSE inspector Guy Dale, after investigating the case, concluded that the employee was working on a building where the walls had been removed and had been replaced by inadequately placed steel girders. Moreover, the girders had gaps in between and no barricades underneath. This inadequacy in protection had resulted in the accident, concluded Dale. He added that the lack of protection could actually have injured more workers who were working at the same place at the same time.
Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates Court ordered the employer G Baskerville Ltd to pay a fine of 8,000 pounds and 6,000 pounds after they accepted their negligence in maintaining safety standards at the site.
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