Trainees ladder fall lands stove and flue installer £30,000 fine

A Hertfordshire installer of stoves and flues has been prosecuted for height safety breaches after a trainee suffered multiple fractures after falling eight metres from an access ladder whilst attempting to access a roof.

 

The 22 year-old trainee broke two vertebrae, his left ankle and wrist, tore ligaments and fractured his pelvis in the incident, which happened in Poets Road, Highbury, North London, on 3 December 2012.

 

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) yesterday (7 August) prosecuted the injured worker’s employer, Nature’s Power Ltd of Rickmansworth, after identifying a number of safety failings by the company.

 

Westminster Magistrates’ were told that the firm were fitting a flue liner down the chimney as part of installation work for a new wood burning stove. The trainee was attempting to adjust an extendable roof ladder while balanced at the top of the access ladder which was leaning against the house.

 

However, HSE’s investigation found that the access ladder was not long enough for the job. It did not clear the guttering and so didn’t extend to a point where he could step off the access ladder and onto the roof ladder safely. When the roof ladder began to slip down the roof it pulled him off the access ladder as there was nothing for him to hold on to in order to help him regain his balance. He fell three storeys to the ground below sustaining serious injuries.

 

Nature’s Power Ltd, of High Street, Rickmandsworth, was fined a total of £30,000 and ordered to pay a further £5,840 in costs after being found guilty in absentia of two separate breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

 

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Keith Levart said:

 

"It was clear the access ladder had been used unsafely and that Nature’s Power Ltd had failed to plan the work properly, taking into account the specific issues that arose from using that site.

 

"If used correctly, access and roof ladders can provide safe access to chimneys. However, this one could not clear the guttering, which led to this entirely preventable incident and a trainee worker suffering serious injuries. It is only a matter of good fortune that these injuries were not fatal.

 

"There is no shortage of advice and information about safe use of ladders. Where necessary, there is ancillary equipment available such as adjustable ladder stays, and straps for securing it to the building."