Court fines farmer over fall that hurt worker

The worker, who does not wish to be identified, fractured his skull, collarbone and right wrist, ruptured his spleen and broke six ribs in the fall at Moorhouse Farm in Hovingham, York magistrates heard yesterday.

The court was told the labourer was helping farm owner Bruce Quarton to convert a farm building into a cattle shed when he stepped onto the roof light and fell three metres onto a concrete floor.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which led the investigation, said no measures were in place to stop the fall and said Mr Quarton also breached safety regulations by lifting the labourer onto the roof in the bucket of his tractor.

Quarton pleaded guilty to a section 3(1) breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £1,530 in costs.

Following the hearing, HSE principal inspector David Green said: “This work was poorly planned and executed from start to finish, with the end result being a horrific fall that could easily have killed the labourer.

“Thankfully he has since made a full recovery, but that doesn’t detract from the seriousness of the incident or the disregard for safety at the time.

“Using a tractor and bucket as an impromptu lift is totally unacceptable. I hope today’s prosecution serves as a further reminder that farm machinery should only be used for its intended purpose, and that work at height needs to be properly planned.”

This week, the HSE is running an intensive inspection campaign along the North Yorkshire coast to clamp down on dangerous practices during refurbishment, repair and maintenance projects.

Last year 140 workers were seriously injured in construction work across the county.