Telecommunications company has been fined £600,000

A telecommunications company has been fined £600,000 and ordered to pay costs of £60,000 following two, sequential, events when workers were injured by falls from height.

In the first incident an engineer, who was working on a stepladder installing a cable along a ceiling level cable tray amongst the lighting system, felt a pain in his right arm and fell from the step ladder. He was taken to hospital with head and back injuries. Later that day a second engineer continued with the work, from a different ladder, and he too fell to the ground and was taken to hospital with serious skull and back injuries.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into both incidents, which occurred on 1st April 2010, found that the work had not been properly assessed or planned, despite workers being exposed to such serious risks as working at height close to an electrical system.