Lift firm fined over safety failings after worker fatality
A company specialising in lifts and elevators has been fined for health and safety failings following the death of one of its engineers.
ThyssenKrupp Elevator UK Ltd (TKE) was prosecuted after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched an investigation into the death of 53-year-old engineer Steven Loake in October 2010. Mr Loake was attempting to fix a fault on a lift in Pentonville Prison in North London when he came into contact with a live conductor and suffered a fatal electric shock. He had failed to isolate the lift from the main power supply.
HSE investigators found that Mr Loake’s death was directly caused by health and safety breaches on the part of ThyssenKrupp Elevator UK Ltd (TKE). The company failed its employee in a number of respects, including:
• Failure to provide a safe system of work
• Failure to properly supervise field operatives
• Failure to provide workers with adequate information, as well as health and safety training, in order to carry out work on electrical systems
• Failure to ensure that employee’s work equipment is fit for use
For breaching safety legislation, the company was fined £100,000 and was ordered to pay court costs.