Last week, a judge at Manchester Crown Court sent three people to jail. Why? Because they failed to follow the rules for working safely at height, and because they attempted to cover up their negligence after disaster struck.
Back in 2014, two men - Benjamin Edge and Peter Heap - were working on the roof of a shed in wet and windy conditions. There were no height safety measures in place to prevent Edge and Heap from falling and injuring themselves; they weren't wearing
safety harnesses, and no other safeguards had been provided for their protection. During the job, Benjamin Edge fell from the roof and sustained severe head injuries. He was pronounced dead at Salford Royal Hospital that night.
If this were the end of the story, Mr Edge's employer - SR and RJ Brown Ltd - would still have been in very hot water indeed. Companies who commit corporate manslaughter by failing to identify and address on-the-job hazards are routinely punished with large fines and even jail time in some cases. In this particular case, however, the firm's wrongdoing did not end with Mr Edge's death.
After the accident, Mr Heap was ordered to bring a set of safety harnesses to the work site to make it look as though proper safety precautions had been taken. Furthermore, James Brown - one of the directors of SR and RJ Brown Ltd - created fake risk assessment forms and handed these to the authorities investigating the incident. All of this was done to create the impression that the firm had followed the rules and that they were not at fault for Mr Edge's death.
Eventually, the cover-up was revealed and the two company directors were sentenced to 20 months in jail, plus a fine of £300,000. Mark Aspin, who contracted the job to SR and RJ Brown Ltd, has been jailed for 12 months.
Why risk breaching safety regulations?
When preparing to carry out a routine task, it can sometimes be tempting to ignore health and safety law and just get it done as quickly as possible. However, as the story above demonstrates, any time you save by skipping the safety precautions will pale in comparison to the possible consequences. Not only can you face hefty fines and jail sentences for putting your employees in danger, you also risk ending lives, wrecking families, and causing damage that can never be undone.
Stay safe at work - if you're an employer, it is your legal responsibility to carry out a risk assessment and put the necessary safeguards in place to protect your workers!
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