Isle of Wight ferry operator Red Funnel has been fined £30,000 and ordered to pay over £10,000 in costs after a worker fell from the unprotected edge of Red Falcon’s mezzanine car deck back in 2015.
Southampton Crown Court heard how, on 24th September 2015, a worker was uncoiling a reel of electrical cable on a mezzanine deck at Southampton docks when he inadvertently stepped off a raised edge and fell 2.5m to the lower deck,
The worker sustained multiple fractures to his foot and wrist in the incident.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Red Funnel should have taken steps such as lowering the mezzanine deck or raising the edge protection barriers on the deck in order to eliminate the risk of falling from height.
Red Funnel pleaded guilty for failing to discharge the duty imposed upon them by Section 3(1) of Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and as a result have been fined £30,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,800.
HSE inspector Andrew Johnson said:
“Companies have a duty to ensure the risks from working at height are properly controlled. Simple steps to eliminate the risk of falling or prevent it (through barriers etc.) were not taken and a serious injury occurred.”
Fran Collins, CEO of Red Funnel, said:
“Immediately following our own detailed internal investigation in 2015, we accepted that there were shortcomings in our contractor control and management processes, which were rectified immediately, and accordingly and in line with our moral and company values, we entered an early guilty plea to the HSE’s charge.
“Notwithstanding the fact that Red Funnel cooperated fully at all stages with the HSE’s investigation and, having entered a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity in June 2018, we are disappointed that the process took so long to come to the final hearing.”
