Firm fined after accident with glass

A firm in Port Talbot has been fined following an accident which resulted in an employee falling into a skip of broken glass.

As a result of the incident, which occurred in October 2006, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is calling upon firms to eradicate working practices deemed to pose a danger.

While the victim was not fatally injured, the accident did result in him sustaining a fractured skull and it was necessary to perform reconstructive surgery on the victim's face.

As a consequence of the accident, the man involved also lost the use of one eye.

"The company has admitted a failure to carry out proper risk assessments and a failure to have safe systems of work in place, which ultimately resulted in this incident," said Alan Strawbridge, an inspector with the HSE.

"Companies … need to ensure that they implement and maintain safe systems of work to avoid incidents like this occurring," he added.

Following a hearing into the incident, the firm was found to have breached Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Among the requirements of successful risk management are ensuring that members of the public and employees are sufficiently protected from dangers.

Find out more about conducting a Risk Assessment.