Firm Fined Following Workers Fall from Kiln

Wienerberger Limited has been fined for safety failings after a worker suffered multiple injuries when he fell from the roof of an industrial brick oven at a site in Bishop Auckland.
 
David Snow, 56, sustained a fractured skull and several breaks to his left leg in the incident at the company's brick manufacturing plant on 18 January 2012.
 
He has since needed major and on-going reconstructive surgery and more than a year later, Mr Snow, a former keen golfer and dog-walker, relies on crutches or a wheelchair to move about.
 
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the incident, at the now-mothballed site in Eldon Lane, and prosecuted Wienerberger Ltd at Darlington Magistrates' Court today (8 May).
 
The court heard Mr Snow, a kiln operator, was standing on the top of the large oven trying to release the exit door that had been jamming half-open since the Christmas shutdown. As he tried to free the jam, he lost his balance and fell some three metres to the floor.
 
HSE found the firm failed to provide any safety measures to control the risks of falling from height and failed to provide a safe system of work for releasing the jammed oven door.
 
Wienerberger Limited, Weinerberger House, Brooks Drive, Cheadle, Cheshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act and were fined £13,500 and ordered to pay £4,190.70 costs.
 
After the hearing, HSE Inspector Michael Kingston said:
 
"Mr Snow suffered major, life changing injuries as a result of this incident, but there was a real possibility that his fall could have been fatal.
 
"Weinerberger Ltd was aware of the oven door jamming but failed to put an engineering solution in place until after the incident. In addition no edge protection or any simple precautionary measures were provided temporarily to prevent Mr Snow, or any other employee, falling almost three metres to the factory floor.
 
"Falls from height continue to be the main cause of workplace fatalities even though simple and inexpensive measures can be implemented to avoid putting employees at risk."
Fall Protection