A Croydon recycling business has received a £20,000 fine after a student worker fell four metres through a chute.
Indian business studies student Priyank Malik, 22, was working part-time at Country Waste Management on Beddington Lane, Croydon to support himself during his studies at Westminister Academy.
He was injured when he fell through a chute at the site on 15 April 2011.
Although he only suffered minor injuries, the Health and Safety Executive said that Country Waste Management failed to put measures in place to protect their employees and others working at height.
Westminister Magistrates’ Court heard that One51 Recycling ES UK (South) Limited, trading as Country Waste Management, had received advice in 2010 from HSE about its responsibility to control the risks of working at height.
The company was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,485.
HSE inspector Clare Hawkes said: “The failure to take a systematic, risk-based approach to managing health and safety led to an employees’s fall of four metres that could have led to far more serious and even fatal injuries.
“The company should have taken action to stamp out practices like crossing the openings of chutes and walking on top of loaded containers. If work at height cannot be avoided then physical low cost measures should be taken, such as erecting barriers or suitable edge protection to prevent falls from open edges. Employers should have clear site rules and ensure that they are enforced.”
