The Government’s Health and Safety Executive has prosecuted a horticultural nursery after one of its employees fell through a glasshouse roof and suffered serious injuries, work accident claim experts recently reported.
The unnamed twenty one year old worker had been attempting to clean out the guttering in Offenham’s Westland Nurseries when he fell through the glass roof and plummeted three metres down to the concrete floor below, according to his personal injury claims. The employee suffered severe injuries to his head in the incident, including blood on the brain and concussion, while also suffering numerous cuts, bruises, and a fractured wrist, all of which kept him off work for three months as he recovered.
The HSE launched an investigation into the incident shortly thereafter, discovering that the nursery demonstrated little to no understanding of the kinds of risks employees faced working at height. The company had not taken any measures to prevent its employees from suffering falls from height, the HSE also found.
As a result of their investigation, the HSE prosecuted Offenham’s Westland Nurseries Ltd, of Ferry Lane, at Worcester Magistrates’ Court, where the company admitted to breach health and safety at work regulations. Westland Nurseries was then given a £12,000 fine and told to pay £6,835 in court costs for the role they played in their young employee’s accident and injury.
Falls from height are some of the most dangerous accidents that can occur whilst on the job, according to official figures, leading to thousands of workers sustaining severe injuries every year.