Drinks company Diageo Scotland Ltd has been fined for health and safety breaches after two workers were injured in falls from height at separate plants in Moray.
Elgin Sheriff Court heard that on 1st January, 2012, Robert Edward plunged nearly four metres from a portable ladder. Mr Edward, who had been clearing a blockage inside a chute in a grain silo at Burghead Maltings, was found unconscious by a fellow worker.
He was taken to hospital with concussion, a dislocated finger and a cut to the head. Mr Edward had restricted movement in his hand but has since returned to work.
Two months later, on 16th March, at Glenlossie Dark Grains Plant in Thomshill, Elgin, Peter Douglas, was standing on the engine bonnet of a loader shovel to wash the roof. He slipped, falling more than two metres to the ground.
Mr Douglas incurred a bleed to the brain and a shattered bone in his left leg. The incident affected his short term memory but he has since returned to full-time employment.
A subsequent investigation by the Health and Safety Executive revealed that drinks giant Diageo had failed to implement sufficient measures to prevent the use of ladders in unsafe circumstances when clearing blockages at Burghead Maltings.
Following the case, HSE principal inspector Niall Miller said: “Both of these incidents, which could have proved fatal for the workers involved, could have been avoided had Diageo Scotland Ltd ensured its employees were adequately protected from the risks associated with their jobs.”
Safety failings
The HSE found Diageo had provided platform ladders for access. Even so, the ladders were hard to manoeuvre across the areas of the silo floor and the lights and ducting on the ceiling.
At the Glenlossie plant, it emerged that instructions on washing the shovel were handed down from one employee to the next during initial training to be a loader shovel operator.
A risk assessment had not been conducted and no written instructions were present.
Mr Miller commented: “At Burghead Maltings, Diageo’s management was aware of the blockage issue; however they failed to identify that a safe method of working was not in place and that unsafe practices for clearing blockages had developed.
“At Glenlossie, a discussion with a loader shovel operator on how it was washed would have identified the dangers to employees. The risk assessment on the use of the loader shovel should also have considered the risks associated with its cleaning.
“In both cases Diageo had provided work at height training, which included risk assessment training, and believed their employees should be competent to plan and carry out work at height. However, it is not sufficient for health and safety instructions merely to be given to workers; employers must also ensure those instructions are carried out.”
Diageo Scotland Ltd, of Lochside Way, Edinburgh Park, Edinburgh, was fined a total of £18,000 after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 for the Burghead incident, and Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 for the Glenlossie incident.
