Pages On: Falls from Heights
Workplaces hold a duty of care to their staff to prevent accidents. Falls from heights are some of the most dangerous and preventable forms of accident at work. If your employer has failed in their duty of care to you, and you have suffered a fall from a height, it may be lucky if you walk away with your life. They are the top cause of fatal injury at work, and are a blight in construction and agriculture industries. If you or a loved one has suffered a workplace injury and are not at fault, you may be entitled to claim personal injury compensation for the employer negligence.
Dangers of Working in the Construction Industry: Making a Personal Injury Claim
Posted: 10 February 2016
Posted in: Falls from Heights, Industrial Deafness and Disease, Workplace Injuries, Workplace Slip
There have been a number of initiatives attempting to improve workplace safety and prevent serious injury through accidents, however, despite this, the construction industry remains one of the most common places for someone to sustain a serious injury. There were more injuries and fatalities in the workplace in 2014/15 than there were in the previous twelve months indicating that, despite efforts to lower the number of workplace accidents, they are still exceptionally common. The two most common areas for accidents to occur were in agriculture and once again, construction, which…
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Building company fined after death
Posted: 7 September 2013
Posted in: Employer Negligence, Falls from Heights, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death
Building company ‘Chestnut Homes’ has been fined a total of £40,000 after Justin Gillman (26) fell from scaffolding in 2010, resulting in his death. The judge described the death of the bricklayer as an “accident waiting to happen” after an HSE investigation found that the scaffolding had been built by two untrained workmen and was considered extremely dangerous. Mr. Gillman fell from the construction while pulling a trolley full of bricks. He stumbled off of the scaffolding, as no guardrail was in place, and was crushed by the trolley’s contents. Sentence is…
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Boy falls through roof of Rank Hovis Mill factory
Posted: 28 June 2013
Posted in: Falls from Heights, Personal Injury, Public Place Accidents
A teenage boy fell through the roof of a disused Rank Hovis Mill factory in Ramsgate yesterday, and is now critically ill in hospital. Thought to be 13 years old, the boy and his friend had been playing on the roof of the disused building when the roof gave way under his feet. He was taken by air ambulance to the Royal London Hospital, where he is now being treated for rather severe injuries. A spokesman from the Kent Fire and Rescue Service said that the boy had fallen around 20ft…
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Building firm sentenced after employee falls to death
Posted: 9 April 2013
Posted in: Employer Negligence, Falls from Heights, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death
A building firm and one of its directors have been sentenced after an employee fell 15 metres to his death in an empty water storage tank in Macclesfield. Liverpool Crown Court heard that the 45-year-old from Liverpool and a colleague had started work at the farm three days earlier. They had been constructing brick manhole chambers above the circular tank, approximately 7.5 metres in diameter, which had been installed to collect flood water. An HSE investigation found they had not been given sufficient information or a risk assessment for the…
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Enforcement action taken at many construction sites
Posted: 26 March 2013
Posted in: Employer Negligence, Falls from Heights, Workplace Injuries
Nearly one in five construction sites visited across Britain have been subject to enforcement action after failing safety checks. In a month long initiative, inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited a total of 2363 sites where refurbishment or repair work was taking place and saw 2976 contractors. Around 631 enforcement notices were served across 433 sites for poor practices that could put workers at risk, with 451 notices ordering that work stop immediately until the situation was put right. Between 18th February and 15th March HSE inspectors…
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The inherent dangers of working at height
Posted: 13 March 2013
Posted in: Employer Negligence, Falls from Heights, Shoulder Injuries, Spine & Back Injuries, Workplace Injuries
Workers across Britain are continuing to suffer serious injury and even death as a result of employers failing to ensure they are sufficiently protected when working at height. Life-changing injuries In London a worker suffered severe injuries when he fell through a roof light at a construction site. He was employed by an interior fit-out company, and was carrying out insulation work on a property redevelopment project when he fell through the roof light and landed on the ground six metres below. He sustained life-changing injuries, including breaks to three…
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Company fined for worker fall
Posted: 29 January 2013
Posted in: Employer Negligence, Falls from Heights, Spine & Back Injuries, Workplace Injuries
A Kent renovation company has been fined for safety failings after an unsupervised labourer fell more than four metres from a poorly constructed scaffold tower whilst stripping out a basement gym in central London. The man fractured two vertebrae and broke five ribs in the fall in April 2011. He was part of a crew of labourers working to remove ventilation ducting from a two-storey gym in the basement. A scaffold tower was erected to support the work and was being used by the worker to access ducting from a…
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