Rigging firm fined £20k after worker death

A rigging firm has been fined £20,000 at the Old Bailey today (Friday) following a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution into the death of  a 26 year-old man at Earls Court three years ago.

Self-employed David Mott, who was working for Unusual Rigging at the time of the incident, fell 35m to his death on 23 June 2000.

Mott, from Brentwood, Essex, fell through fragile, false ceiling tiles while dismantling mobile platforms as part of a refurbishment project. He was taken to Charing Cross hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival from multiple injuries.

Unusual Rigging and Earls Court Ltd had earlier both pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 which requires employers to ensure that persons not in their employment are not exposed to risks to their health or safety.

Earls Court Ltd was fined another £80,000, just six months after another worker was killed in a similar incident for which it had to pay a £70,000 fine.   

HSE inspector Peter Lennon said: "This was a foreseeable and avoidable incident; the dangers were well known to both companies.  Simple, practicable steps could have been taken to prevent anyone falling through the tiles but these were ignored. 

"Both companies fell seriously short of the standards required to protect those who were working in the roof void, with fatal consequences."