The Online Lodge

A farm employer named Francis Caley was recently fined £8,000 when he was found guilty of violating section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974. He also had to pay £1,858 as costs at Hull and Holderness Magistrates Court. The judgement can be seen as a caveat for employers to ensure that they take proper safety measures when their employees work at heights.

Charles Leslie Nendick, the employee of the accused, was repairing a farm building on May 13, 2008, and just as he stepped onto the roof, it gave in and he fell from a height of approximately five metres. This resulted in serious injuries with fractures on his hip, pelvis and spine and a wound on his head.

Alan Sheldon, who is an inspector at HSE, pointed out that Caley failed to take proper precautions to prevent such an incident from happening. He revealed Nendick was working at a height of 4.5 metres when he suffered the fall that left him badly injured.

Sheldon said it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that employees working on roofs and heights are safe and that workplace falls are checked. The _{Working at Height Courses} are aimed at enabling those responsible for such work, such as health and safety managers, facilities managers and safety supervisors, to undertake a suitable and sufficient risk assessment. He further said roofs have always been a dangerous place to work. Over a span of ten years, the agriculture industry had witnessed nearly 70 fatalities caused by falls from heights. Out of this, around 35 deaths had been caused due to falls from surfaces which couldn’t bear workers’ weight. HSE has also put down elaborate guidelines to ensure safety and prevent such falls.