A Middlesborough hotel and country club has been fined £21,000 after an employee was seriously injured in a fall.

The Marton Hotel and Country Club admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act during a hearing before Teeside magistrates.

The court heard that employee Frederick Bavin fell from a ladder and fractured  his skull as he was doing maintenance work in the hotel kitchens.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive showed that correct risk assessments had not been undertaken.

After the case Ken Cummins a senior environmental health officer with Middleborough Council issued a statement which read:

“Our investigation revealed that the hotel owners had not carried out risk assessments for the job to be undertaken and that Mr Bavin had not received any formal health and safety training in the 18 years he had worked for the company. Officers from the Community Protection Service had issued previous warnings to the company on these matters.”

He added: “This accident could very well have resulted in the death of the employee.”

HSE website >>

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By Andrew Smith

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