Holes and hazards warning
April 21st 2009 The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning employers of the dangers of leaving holes in walkways and providing inadequate hazard warning signs, after a man was seriously injured at Drax Power Station.
The warning comes after Drax Power Ltd in Selby, North Yorkshire, was fined a total of £2,000 at Selby Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 6(3) and Regulation 11(b) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, and ordered to pay full costs of £2,800.20.
This follows an incident on 18 May, 2007 in which an employee was taking a routine operational tour of plant and equipment.
A fixed scaffolding barrier had been erected to prevent access to the area, as a floor plate had been removed so that cleaning work could take place. However, no hazard warning sign had been attached to the barrier to indicate the risk of entering, so the man went in via the entry gate. As a result, he fell approximately 10 feet (three metres) through the hole to the basement below. He sustained serious injuries and has been unable to work since.
HSE Inspector Jacqueline Ferguson said: "This man received severe injuries and hasn't so far been able to return to work, as a direct result of an entirely avoidable incident.
"Falls from height remain the single biggest cause of workplace deaths and one of the main causes of major injury and are a priority for the Health and Safety Executive.
"All work at height should be regarded as high risk, requiring stringent control measures to prevent often fatal consequences. This accident could have been prevented if the danger had been eliminated at the first opportunity, by simply replacing the floor plate once the cleaning had been done - some 10 days prior to the accident." More articles from HSE InfoLine: | 
