Employee fall costs bus company GBP 60,000

Garage owners are being told to ensure the safety of their employees working in or near vehicle inspection pits, after a company was prosecuted for failing to do so.

London Central Bus Company was fined £60,000 by the Old Bailey after a worker fell into a pit and received spinal injuries as a result.

In 2005 Omar Maouche fell into the crevice while trying to use a partial pit cover as a bridge to cross from one side of the hole to another, with the episode resulting in him suffering compression of the spine.

The incident follows the death of a worker in the same circumstances a year earlier.

In court the bus company was found guilty of not carrying out risk assessments and failing to reduce the risk of slips, trips and falls in the workplace while at the same time not providing employees with information or training on how to reduce the chances of injury.

HSE inspector Loraine Charles said the firm failed in its duty to protect staff.

"This is an example of a company putting its employees in unnecessary danger by failing to control risks and take appropriate measures to create a safe working environment," she stated.

Spinal compression occurs when the normal vertebral body of the spine is squashed to a smaller height.