Health and safety in the workplace – falls from height

The Health and Safety Executive (‘HSE’) is the national regulator for workplace health and safety. Whilst some will inevitably argue that the HSE exists to make working practices more onerous and to punish businesses and individuals for even the most minor issues, that is simply not the case. Its primary aim is in fact to assist in the prevention of work-related fatalities, injury or ill health. 

The HSE will from time to time run focused campaigns to tackle specific issues such as asbestos or dust but one area which is deserving of recurring attention given the serious consequences which can flow from bad practices is falls from height.  

Falls from height 

According to HSE statistics, 50 workers lost their lives due to falls from height in 2023 to 2024.   

Many will already be aware of the various pieces of legislation, including the Work at Height Regulations 2005, whose aim is to prevent death and injury caused by a fall from height. The HSE has also published guidance in relation to working at height and employers could do worse than to remind themselves of the legislation and guidance to ensure that their own policies and procedures are fit for purpose and being properly adhered to.  

The HSE will generally be called upon to investigate fatalities in the workplace and if a material breach of Health and Safety legislation is found, a decision to prosecute may be made with proceedings being brought against a business and/or the individuals involved with it.  

Recent HSE prosecutions – falls from height 

Two of the most recent prosecutions by the HSE regarding falls from height serve as a further reminder of why health and safety is not a tick box exercise and not something which businesses/employers or even employees can just pay lip service to. 

In the first example, a self-employed builder, Mr S, was found guilty of breaching Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. He received a suspended prison sentence following the death of a worker who fell from scaffolding whilst undertaking some rendering works.  

The HSE investigation found that Mr S had provided domestic type ladders which were not secured sufficiently and did not provide safe access to the scaffolding. In addition the ladders had defects and the safety gates provided had been tied back which created an opening through which someone could fall.  

Mr S had also failed to undertake a suitable and sufficient risk assessment or produce a method statement for the work.  

In our second example, a company, ST, was found guilty of a breach of Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Their operations manager, Mr H, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.  

The company was fined £90,000 and ordered to pay costs of £28,956 and Mr H was fined £8,500 and ordered to pay the same amount in costs.  

The prosecution was brought after a man had fallen through a fragile roof whilst working to remove a redundant steel cleaning machine from the company’ site.  

The HSE investigation found that there was no suitable and sufficient risk assessment made for the work at height activities. There was no suitable access equipment or safe working practices, and it was not properly organized, planned, appropriately supervised or carried out in a safe manner and the employees were not trained to work at height when the incident occurred.  

Unfortunately, these cases are just a further reminder of the often very serious consequences of falls from height in the workplace. Such consequences are far-reaching and can affect both companies and individuals involved; they can touch on everything from a person’s physical and mental wellbeing to the reputation and financial viability of a business.   

How can Olliers help? 

If you or your company are being investigated or prosecuted by the HSE it is important that you seek legal advice from specialist solicitors. Olliers have a wealth of experience defending those accused of breaching health and safety legislation. We pride ourselves on our pro-active approach to cases during the pre-charge stage of investigations and our team of experts combine both regulatory and criminal expertise having dealt with many fatal incidents, including related inquest proceedings, as well as the full spectrum of non-fatal incidents across many different industries.