Multinational companies prosecuted following a workers death

A man died after a fall from height on an offshore gas installation leading to two companies being prosecuted - 1st December 2008

 

Following a preventable workplace accident which resulted in the death of a technician on the Sole Pit Clipper, an offshore gas installation, two companies have been fined a combined total of £300,000.

The man’s fatal accident at work happened on the 11th November 2005, when he was removing stair treads. He suffered serious head and leg injuries after a five metre fall from height to a landing below, falling through a gap created where two of the stair treads had been removed.

Shell UK Ltd who operated the installation, and the Amec Group who provided the service staff were each fined £150,000, after pleading guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act at Norwich Crown Court, and they were ordered to pay £41,500 for costs.

Dr David Perry, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Principal Inspector said: "This incident resulted from Shell and Amec failing to manage well known and readily foreseeable hazards, in particular falling from height.

"Had the companies carried out adequate risk assessments and implemented and supervised the necessary control measures, including the use of a fall arrest harness, this accident could have been avoided."