Scottish Company Fined for Death of Employee
Murray Provan, an Inspector with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), has warned construction companies against neglecting safety measures for their employees, especially those working at heights. The warning comes after the successful prosecution of one of the directors of a Scottish construction company, along with the company itself, for lapses in the maintenance of its health and safety standards, leading to the death of one of its employees.
In the second prosecution of its kind in the last six years, where a director of a company was prosecuted for failure to ensure safety standards, the director pleaded guilty to the breach and was fined for the same. The employee, Andrezej Freitag, reportedly fell from a three metre high exhaust shaft and suffered grievous injuries, to which he later succumbed.
The incident is said to have taken place because safety standards were not complied with at the block where construction was underway, as there was no barrier at the edge of the shaft. Pursuant to the decision of the Dundee Sheriff Court, the company, Discovery Homes (Scotland) Limited was punished with a fine of £5,000 for breach of provisions of Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
In addition to this, Mr Richard Lionel John Pratt, a director as well as site manager of the company, was fined to the tune of £4,000 after admitting his breach of Section 37(1) of the said Act, as he was responsible for managing the health and safety of the employees and the death was a result of his neglect of his duties. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations require all employers to carry out an assessment of risk by a competent person, click on risk assessment training to ensure your organisation meets its basic commitments to providing a safe work environment for your staff.
According to Provan, the accident was caused primarily due to the negligence of the employer and the site manager. It could have been prevented had the provisions of the Act been complied with, but unfortunately, Pratt made use of barriers that were not suitable for work at heights.
