At the end of last month, Blades Limited, a window cleaning company in London, pleaded guilty to a single charge of breaching general duty to an employee under the Health and Safety at Work Act. The company was fined £45,000 and ordered to pay £7,500 costs.
Kevin Dolan fell to his death through the open floor-to-ceiling window of Pountney Hill House, in central London, while cleaning the huge glass pane from the inside. The tragic death was caused by the company’s failure to ensure safe working conditions. The court heard there was no rope access, no harnesses and no fall arrest or restraint. There were “eye bolts” built into the building, but they were not being used.
The company took immediate responsibility for his death and pleaded guilty to a single charge of breaching general duty to an employee under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
This certainly isn’t the first time we have heard of tragic cases caused by health and safety negligence and the consequences in some cases can be more than a £45k fine, like we saw back in our article in June when a company owner was jailed after a fatal accident involving an apprentice at work.
Tragedies and accidents can easily be avoided if health and safety legislations are correctly adhered to. Make sure your business is a safe work place for your employees.
If you have any concerns about managing health and safety or if you have any general health and safety enquiries please do not hesitate to contact us on 0113 3504030 or at hello@scesolicitors.co.uk
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