Hills Waste solutions fined £190,000 after fatal fall
Company prosecuted following death of a maintenance contractor in a fall from height
HILLS Waste Solutions Ltd have been fined £190,000 after a contractor died when he fell 7m while carrying out maintenance work.
Aldershot Magistrates’ Court heard how the experienced maintenance contractor was part of a team under the control and direction of the Wiltshire-based waste-management company. He sustained fatal injuries in the fall on 18 November 2020 while working on a mechanical screening and separating plant at the Hills Waste Solutions site in Westbury.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Hills Waste Solutions failed to ensure that work at height was properly assessed and planned. The company also failed to consider and identify how the necessary work at height could be carried out safely to ensure that the risk of falls was controlled.
Hills Waste Solutions, who pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, were fined £190,000 and ordered to pay costs of £14,816, with a victim surcharge of £190.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Matt Tyler said: ‘Those in control of work have a duty to assess the risks and devise safe methods of working, and to provide the necessary information, instruction, and training to those undertaking the work. This incident could have been prevented had the work been adequately planned.’
