A construction company has been fined £17,500 after a teenage student on work experience fell eight metres off a raised wooden pallet.
The 17 year old had been on a pallet along with three other workers which was lifted to allow them onto a roof. During this process, the student fell off.
The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) investigation revealed that the pallet had no handrails or other suitable protection devices to prevent workers falling off, and had no suitable means of being secured to the telescopic materials handler.
Reid Engineering (Cookstown) Ltd pleading guilty to two breaches of health and safety legislation at Omagh Crown Court. The company were also ordered to pay prosecution costs.
After the hearing Mr Kevin Campbell, an inspector with the HSENI's Major Investigation Team said, "Companies need to identify and address hazards within the workplace. Where work at height is planned, appropriate measures must be put in place to allow the workers to access that area, and suitable measures in place to prevent them falling while working. Failure to take measures could result in workers falling to their death."
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