Veolia ES fined 100,000 following workers fall

The Health and Safety Executive claimed that the employee – who was working for an outside contractor on Veolia's premises – was “lucky to be alive” following the incident and urged employers to be aware of their duties surrounding working at height.

Veolia Environmental Services Birmingham (VESB) was prosecuted alongside Huddersfield-based contractor Hansen Transmissions (HTL) over the incident on July 5 2007, which saw an HTL employee puncturing his lung, breaking limbs and suffering a hernia after falling more than 10 metres onto a pallet of bundled narrow bore copper pipes while working to replace a gearbox within a condensing unit.

The Crown Court handed VESB a fine of £100,000 and also ordered the company to pay £22,000 costs after it pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. This states that it is the duty of every employer to try and make sure that persons not in their employment who may be affected thereby are not exposed to risks to their health or safety.

Operating from its Tyseley base in the south of the city, VESB currently has a 25-year integrated waste management contract with Birmingham city council.

At the same hearing, HTL was handed a £70,000 fine and ordered to pay £22,000 costs after pleading guilty to breaching section 2(1) of Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The section states that it is the duty of every employer to try and ensure that persons in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.”

HSE

HSE investigating inspector Paul Smith said: “Any informed check upon this system of work should have identified its shortcomings and put a stop to it. VESB failed to properly monitor or manage the work being carried out by HTL.”

“VESB apparently expected the use of scaffolding and harnesses but did not check that the work was being done that way. There were no checks by VESB on the adequacy of the health and safety arrangements being employed by HTL's staff,” he added.

Looking at the wider concerns of the waste management sector, Mr Smith said that HSE had provided a range of information on best practice in the work place.

Mr Smith said: “Site owners and operators must be aware of their duties towards contractors and others who work on their premises then take suitable steps to ensure their safety.”

“Such failures are unacceptable, especially as HSE has published a wealth of advice and guidance for employers to help them reduce the risk of falls from height and has recently launched the ‘Shattered Lives' campaign to raise awareness of slips, trips and falls in the workplace,” he added.

Veolia

Commenting on the incident, a spokesman for Veolia ES said: “We take all health and safety measures extremely seriously and are strengthening our existing safety monitoring procedures in the light of this case.”