Fatal 23m plunge brings firms £130,000 penalty

Jocelyn Dorrell | Prosecutions and Claims |
03.11.2008

Two firms have together been fined £130,000 over the death of a construction worker who fell 23 metres when gratings gave way beneath him.

The incident happened in July 2005 at Allington waste plant in Maidstone, Kent, where waste-to-energy facilities were under construction. Lentjes UK (formerly Lurgi (UK)), which specialises in the construction of major process plants, was principal contractor for the project and Rafako SA had been subcontracted to manufacture and install boilers.

Polish worker Janusz Jakub Trybala had been installing floor gratings to one of the boilers - each of which was housed in a steel structure with platforms and walkways at various heights - when the grating gave way and he fell 23 metres to his death.

An investigation revealed that some of the gratings had not been fastened in place and others had been moved by pipe-fitters who were working on the boiler at the same time. On the morning of the fatality, a health and safety manager had expressed concern about the gratings and the number of people working on boilers simultaneously. He was discussing his concerns with Rafako managers as the accident happened.

HSE inspector Peter Collingwood said basic precautions - securing the gratings as they went along and not allowing pipe-fitters to displace them as they were being installed - would have prevented the death.

Lentjes - a subsidiary of process and plant engineering group AE&E Lentjes GmbH - pleaded guilty to failing to protect workers not in its employment, contrary to Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act. Rafako admitted breaching Regulations 10 and 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations, which require employers to prevent the fall or collapse of materials at height and to take reasonable steps to prevent people falling.

On 30 October at Maidstone Crown Court, Lentjes was fined £45,000 and ordered to pay £25,000 costs. Rafako was fined a total of £85,000 with £35,000 costs.