safety failings<\/a> that led to the death of an employee. The incident occurred at the firm\u2019s premises in Chesham, Buckinghamshire in 2014.<\/p>\nThe worker, William Richardson, received fatal brain injuries after falling eight feet from a wet, wooden unguarded platform at the premises. According to the case presented to the court the spring-loaded gates in place to protect the platform edge were worn.<\/p>\n
Richardson fell while unloading pallets when he slipped on the wet platform. He was in a coma for eight days after hitting the concrete floor below but subsequently died.<\/p>\n
The judge presiding over the case said there were \u201cbreathtaking\u201d failures in recognising the hazards and threats to safety.<\/p>\n
In an earlier hearing in March, the firm admitted to two breaches of the Health & Safety Act. The company was fined \u00a32.2 million\u2014a reduction on the original fine of \u00a33.3 million because of the early guilty plea.<\/p>\n
In passing sentence Judge Sheridan said: \u201cThe design was a Heath Robinson do-it-yourself contraption, in my view. The whole of the edge was unguarded which was simply disgraceful. This was an obvious danger.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith or without safety advice, it would be idiotic to proceed without having regard to that.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne doesn\u2019t need guidance, one just needs a modicum of common sense to realise this system was wholly inadequate and a disaster waiting to happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose responsible for this company should hang their heads in shame at the failings that led to a man\u2019s death.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A firm has been fined a whopping \u00a32.2m after a worker fell from a platform and was killed Decco Ltd has been fined \u00a32.2m for safety failings that led to the death of an employee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[309],"tags":[432],"stakeholder_rel_tag":[],"contributor_rel_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-27214","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-health-safety-news","7":"tag-health-safety"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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