This news article featured in issue no. 6 in CHSP’s September 2021 newsletter.
A worker died after falling from an unguarded platform of an alloy access tower that he was dismantling in Worthing, UK.
An employee of EDF Energy Contracting Ltd, James Gordon was dismantling the mobile tower located in the sports hall of Worthing High School in West Sussex in 2007.
He was stood on the intermediate platform where it appears he stumbled and fell more than five metres to the ground. The top platform had already been dismantled.
Cause
There were no guardrails on the intermediate platform of which he fell to prevent his fall, the 63 year old suffered serious head injuries from the fall which resulted in his death.
Outcome
EDF Energy Contracting Ltd pleaded guilty at Chichester Crown Court for breaching Section 4b and 4c of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and fined £160,000 and ordered to pay costs of £24,594.98. He left behind a grieving widow and several grandchildren.