A roadworker died of his injuries after falling 12 metres while working over the M5 motorway near Clevedon, a court heard.
The man was repairing CCTV cameras used to monitor one lane of the motorway on the night of 24 January 2006, when he fell off a wall into bushes below, suffering serious injuries. He died in hospital of his injuries, ten days later.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the man’s employers Serco Ltd, of Hook, Hampshire, and principal contractor, Birse Civils Ltd of Tadcaster, North Yorkshire. Both were fined for failing to protect a worker when he was working at the site near Junction 20 Northbound, between Clevedon and Gordano.
Serco and Birse Civils were fined a total of £200,000 (plus costs of £36,186) and £100,000 (plus costs of £180,093) respectively by Bristol Crown Court.
These figures do not included any claims for compensation that may arise.
Legal Aspects
- Regulation 4(1)Work at Height Regulations 2005 states work at height should be properly planned, supervised and carried out in a manner that is in fact safe.
- Regulation 11(i)(a) Management of Health & Safety at Work Regs 1999 state that employers should co operate where they share a workplace.
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