A company in Lincolnshire has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an employee fell 4metres, breaking eight ribs and sustaining a back injury.

James Theaker, 50, was employed by A Nicoll & Son Limited to clean windows at Lincoln College in Monks Road, Lincoln in November 2008. Mr Theaker climbed onto the flat roof of the college to clean the windows of an adjoining building and fell when he overreached.

On Tuesday, 27 October at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court, A Nicoll & Son Limited of Allenby Road Industrial Estate in Lincoln pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, after failing to ensure cleaning work was properly planned and supervised. The company was fined £2,500 and ordered to pay £2,948.20 costs.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Judith McNulty-Green said that the accident could have been avoided had the company ‘carried out a sensible and proportionate assessment of the risks to employees working at height’.

‘More than 3,200 employees suffered major injuries as a result of falls from height the workplace in 2007-08,’ said Ms McNulty-Green. ‘These injuries can shatter lives. It is simply not acceptable to fail to take simple steps to keep workers safe.’

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