European Window Cleaners: No Risk Assessment - Employers Fined

Client jointly responsible for window cleaner safety - Building owner fined following fall of cleaning contractor employee:

Lincoln College has today been fined £1,500 after a window cleaner fell 4m suffering broken ribs and a serious back injury. James Theaker aged 50, from Lincoln, was employed by A Nicoll & Son Ltd, when he was contracted to clean windows at Lincoln College on 4 November 2008. Mr Theaker accessed the roof of the main reception building using a ladder. He fell whilst leaning against the building to clean nearby windows. He spent a week in hospital and off work for months and can now only carry out restricted duties.
Lincoln College pleaded guilty to breaching the MHSW Regulations 1999 by failing to conduct a sufficient risk assessment. The college was also ordered to pay £9,500 towards prosecution costs. The prosecution follows an early hearing at which window cleaning contractor A Nicoll & Son Ltd pleaded guilty for its role in the incident and was ordered to pay over £5,000 in fines and prosecution costs.

The Judge points out duties of building occupiers: District Judge Richard Blake said: “It is important that those who occupy buildings and employ contractors assess the risks to ensure best work practices are adhered to.” Following the hearing, HSE Inspector Judith McNulty-Green said: “Mr Theaker has suffered life-changing injuries as a result of his fall. Lincoln College had a legal duty to check its contractors had proper procedures in place but failed to do so. “Employers and organisations that hire contract staff have a joint responsibility to ensure the safety of all staff who work on site, to avoid serious incidents such as this.”

Risk assessment from the "The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999"

3. - (1) Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of -

(a) the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work; and
(b) the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking, for the purpose of identifying the measures he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed upon him by or under the relevant statutory provisions and by Part II of the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997.

(2) Every self-employed person shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of -
(a) the risks to his own health and safety to which he is exposed whilst he is at work; and
(b) the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking, for the purpose of identifying the measures he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed upon him by or under the relevant statutory provisions.

(3) Any assessment such as is referred to in paragraph (1) or (2) shall be reviewed by the employer or self-employed person who made it if -
(a) there is reason to suspect that it is no longer valid; or
(b) there has been a significant change in the matters to which it relates; and where as a result of any such review changes to an assessment are required, the employer or self-employed person concerned shall make them.

(4) An employer shall not employ a young person unless he has, in relation to risks to the health and safety of young persons, made or reviewed an assessment in accordance with paragraphs (1) and (5).

(5) In making or reviewing the assessment, an employer who employs or is to employ a young person shall take particular account of -
(a) the inexperience, lack of awareness of risks and immaturity of young persons;
(b) the fitting-out and layout of the workplace and the workstation;
(c) the nature, degree and duration of exposure to physical, biological and chemical agents;
(d) the form, range, and use of work equipment and the way in which it is handled;
(e) the organisation of processes and activities;
(f) the extent of the health and safety training provided or to be provided to young persons; and
(g) risks from agents, processes and work listed in the Annex to Council Directive 94/33/EC[8] on the protection of young people at work.

(6) Where the employer employs five or more employees, he shall record -
(a) the significant findings of the assessment; and
(b) any group of his employees identified by it as being especially at risk.



How do I carry out a risk assessment?

Questions to ask!

HSE Prosecutes Window Cleaning Company UK

Firm fined after window cleaner fell from roof: A window-cleaning firm from Lincoln has been ordered to pay out more than £5,000 after one of its employees fell from a roof, breaking eight ribs. A Nicoll & Son Limited, which is based in Allenby Road Industrial Estate in Crofton Drive, Lincoln, was charged with breaking Health and Safety at Work regulations. The city's magistrates' court was told how James Theaker, 50, was cleaning windows at Lincoln College, with two other employees, when the accident happened in November last year. Mr Theaker had climbed onto a flat section of roof at the college to clean windows of a neighbouring building, when he reached over and fell. The court heard that he plummeted 13ft to the ground, where his fall was broken by metal railings.

Directors of the company, Susan and Alistair Nicoll, pleaded guilty to contravening health and safety regulations. Health and Safety Executive inspector Judith McNulty-Green was prosecuting in the case. She told magistrates: "Work at that height should be properly planned and supervised and should be undertaken safely. "The instructions given to the team were detailed about the location of the job, but were not detailed about the method of cleaning. "The employees had not been told that they should have used a harness."

The court heard that the workers had been using the pole-washing system – where water is pumped up extendable poles to clean high windows. But several windows could not be reached using this method. So Mr Theaker climbed onto the roof, without the use of a harness to prevent him falling.

Peter Smith, mitigating, told the court that the company has never broken a health and safety regulation before. A Nicoll & Son Limited was fined £2,500 and ordered to pay £2,948 in court costs – meaning it will now have to pay a total of £5,448. Representatives from Lincoln College are due at Lincoln Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, November 10 to face charges of breaking Health and Safety at Work regulations in relation to the same case.

HSE urges employers to keep those working at height safe: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has today prosecuted a Lincoln firm after one of its workers fell four metres from a roof, breaking eight ribs and sustaining a back injury. James Theaker, 50, from Lincoln was employed by A Nicoll & Son Limited to clean windows at Lincoln College in Monks Road, Lincoln, when the incident happened on 4 November 2008. Mr Theaker had climbed onto a flat roof at the college to clean the windows of a neighbouring building, when he over reached and fell. A Nicoll & Son Limited of Crofton Drive, Allenby Road Industrial Estate, Lincoln today (27 October) pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 for failing to ensure cleaning work was properly planned and supervised. The company was fined £2,500 and ordered to pay £2,948.20p in costs by Lincoln Magistrates' Court.

HSE Inspector Judith McNulty-Green said: "More than 3,200 employees suffer from major injuries as a result of falls from height in the workplace each year. "These injuries can shatter lives. It is crucial to remember that even when a risk assessment has taken place, it is only effective if the information is passed onto staff and supervision ensures that they undertake the work safely."

Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 states: "Every employer shall ensure that work at height is properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out in a manner which is so far as is reasonably practicable safe."Information on working at height is available on the HSE website.