An agency worker fell 1.8 metres from a blade platform leading to the Energy company Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy Ltd being fined.
The agency worker was off work for several months with multiple injuries from the fall including a broken collarbone, 10 broken ribs, a broken wrist and a punctured lung.
The fall happened when the worker was inside one of the turbine blades at the company's blade factory. He was standing on a midway platform inside the blade, called a web, vacuuming the inside of the blade. He approached the edge of the web and fell 1.8 metres.
After an investigation from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) it was discovered a ladder was given to access the web, but nothing was either side of the ladder to prevent falling. After a risk assessment, the company have developed a method of cleaning where there is no need to work from height by instead rotating the blade. They have also provided edge protection.
The company were fined £533,334 and ordered to pay £16,274 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching the Work at Height Regulations SI 2005/735.
Denise Fotheringham, the HSE inspector speaking after the hearing said:
"Falls from height often result in life-changing or fatal injuries. In most cases, these incidents are needless and could be prevented by properly planning the work to ensure that effective preventative and protective measures are in place such as edge protection or barriers built to the correct standard. This incident could have easily been prevented if the company had installed adequate edge protection to prevent falls."
