A company has been fined £100,000 after one of its employees was spotted working at height while stood on a wooden pallet raised up by a forklift truck.

The worker was part of a team of three who were removing heavy equipment from the deck of a boat in Ramsgate Harbour, Kent, in July last year.

As scaffolding had been removed, the workers raised a pallet to the deck with a forklift truck and used it as a mobile platform to remove items from the boat.

One of the workers was spotted climbing from the side of the vessel, beneath the guard rails, and onto the pallet with a motorised pressure washer.

The pressure washer was then lowered to the ground.

The worker’s company, Chatham-based European Active Projects Limited (EAP), was fined £100,000 after being prosecuted by the UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for breaching Work at Height Regulations.

The HSE’s investigation found EAP Limited had failed to plan the work at height associated with the refurbishments being carried out on the boat.

This, the investigation found, left workers at risk, with no safe method for removing equipment located on the vessel’s deck.

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The company pleaded guilty at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court to breaching Section 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

As well as a fine, the company was ordered to pay £5,730 in court costs.

HSE inspector Samuel Brown said: “Clearly, lessons had not been learned since the company’s previous prosecution in 2015.

“Falls from height are still the biggest cause of fatal accidents involving workers.

“The risk of workers falling from the pallet and sustaining serious, possibly fatal, injuries should not be ignored.

“Fortunately, no workers were harmed and the reporting of the incident by a concerned member of public enabled HSE to intervene and prevent any further unsafe work at height on site.”

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