Contact Veritas Consulting

Please leave your details below and somebody will get back, today.

Enquiry Form

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Written by
on 19 May 2011

Share

Worker Prosecuted for Breaking Health and Safety Laws

Often you hear reports of large companies being fined for failing to ensure the health and safety of their employees.  Sometimes it is not always the entire fault of the employers, but the employee in question.  Once health and safety regulations and policies are in place it can sometimes be down to your employees to make sure that they follow what they have been told, or taught on courses held by health and safety consultants.

Scoffolder Put Himself and the Public at Risk

This was the case of a scaffolder who was found to be hanging off scaffolding four storeys high.  An inspector for the Health and Safety Executive noticed that the worker did not have a safety harness on as he worked at height on the scaffold.  As a result the worker, Gareth Roser, was called before Hastings Magistrates Court.

There was safety harnesses available for the worker to use, but he chose not to wear one even though at the time the inspector saw him he was eight meters in the air and balancing on the tubes used in scaffolding.  Mr Roser pleaded guilty for breaching section 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.  For his negligence the court fined him £750 and he also was ordered to pay £643 in costs.

Safety Measures Are Well Publicised

The guidance which is given in the industry states that employees working at heights above four meters without a platform below them are to wear a harness.  At the time of the incident, Mr Roser was being contracted by Giant Scaffolding Ltd.  This firm had been given warnings from the health inspector due to not replying to questions regarding their health and safety.

As a result the firm was called before the court where they put in a guilty plea for breaching section 4(10 of the Work at Heights Regulations 2005 and section 2(1)j of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.  They were fined £15,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,000.

A Harness Can Save Lives

Melvyn Stancliffe spoke to the press on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive after the hearing and said that wearing a harness can stop injuries and death when worn by employees and contractors working at height.  This is a basic requirement which often is ignored by the workers purely because they cannot be bothered to put them on.  This puts their lives at risk, and also the lives of others below.   This was not the first time that Mr Roser has been pulled up for his irresponsible behaviour as he was given a warning back in 2008 for a similar problem.

Take Health and Safety Seriously

The Health and Safety consultants, Veritas, offer a wide range of services designed to make sure your company and your employees understand what is expected from them regarding health and safety in the work place.

Construction safety consultants are there to help your business get to grips with the laws in place and ensure you are doing everything possible to make sure the lives of your employees and the public are not put at risk.  This is just one of the health and safety services offered from the team of safety experts.  Call 0800 1488 677 and see how you can improve your workplace safety.

About 

A chartered (fellow) safety and risk management practitioner with 20+ years of experience. David provides a healthy dose of how-to articles, advice and guidance to make compliance easier for construction professionals, Architects and the built environment. Get social with David on Twitter and Linkedin.

A chartered (fellow) safety and risk management practitioner with 20+ years of experience. David provides a healthy dose of how-to articles, advice and guidance to make compliance easier for construction professionals, Architects and the built environment. Get social with David on Twitter and Linkedin.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *