A Cheshire-based electrical transmission company has been fined £240,000 after a worker was left paralysed from the chest down following a fall at work.
Gavin Pugh, from Bangor in North Wales, was 35 at the time of the incident and employed as a linesman by Wood Transmission and Distribution Ltd. He was demolishing and replacing electricity pylons in East Staffordshire when he fell over 9 metres on 6 April 2022.
Gavin Pugh fell more than 9m during work to demolish electricity pylons in East Staffordshire (Image: HSE) Gavin Pugh fell more than 9m during work to demolish electricity pylons in East Staffordshire (Image: HSE) Pugh and his colleagues began working on a pylon known as Tower AE11 in preparation for its demolition. They were unaware that a previous team of linesmen had loosened the bolts on the tower, a process known as ‘bolt cracking’. This work had not been risk assessed, and there were no systems in place to effectively record and communicate what had been done.
Additionally, the team sent to the site that day was understaffed for the work being carried out. As the job progressed, Pugh unknowingly attached his fall protection lanyard to a diagonal steel section that was only securely bolted at its uppermost fixing.
As he moved around the tower, the steel section he was attached to dropped into a vertical position, causing his lanyard to fall loose and resulting in him plummeting to the ground.
He spent six months in hospital and has been left unable to work due to his extensive injuries.
Lack of Proper Risk Assessments
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Wood Transmission and Distribution failed to ensure that the work at height was properly planned, appropriately supervised, and carried out in a manner that was, so far as was reasonably practicable, safe.
The company had not considered the work at height hierarchy as part of its planning and had not assessed the risks associated with bolt cracking. Furthermore, it had not adequately resourced the task in line with its own safety documentation and had failed to implement a process for transferring work between teams and ensuring that safety-critical information was recorded and communicated effectively.
On 12 April 2024, Wood Transmission and Distribution Ltd, of Booths Park, Chelford Road in Knutsford, pleaded guilty at Birmingham Magistrates Court to breaching regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulation 2005. At a hearing on 17 July 2024, it was fined £240,000 and ordered to pay costs of £14,142.
