Buckinghamshire Council has successfully prosecuted a garden furniture business whose health and safety failings led to an employee suffering serious head injuries after falling from an unguarded mezzanine floor.
Garden Furniture Global Ltd pleaded guilty to the charge of failing to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of its employees, when the case came before the District Judge at High Wycombe Magistrates Court on Friday 7 February 2025.
The court heard that on Thursday 10 June 2021, an employee who had been working at Garden Furniture Global Ltd through an employment agency undertaking general warehouse work, was loading a pallet on the mezzanine floor of the warehouse ready for his colleague to move it down with a forklift.
When the pallet had been loaded, the employee stepped to the side and lost his footing on the edge of the loading area. The mezzanine was unguarded, and he fell 3.4 metres to the ground below. He sustained life-changing head injuries as a result of the fall.
Environmental Health Officers from Buckinghamshire Council carried out an investigation into the accident. They found that the mezzanine floor of the warehouse was unguarded and took immediate action to prohibit the use of the mezzanine floor until it could be adequately guarded.
In court, District Judge Sharma indicated that if companies don't adhere to health and safety legislation then there are consequences. He was satisfied there had been a blatant breach of the law and that adequate measures to control the risk of a fall from the floor had not been put in place by Garden Furniture Global Ltd. As a result, he imposed a fine of £40,000 and ordered them to pay £17,000 towards the Council's prosecution costs. A victim surcharge of £190 was also levied.
Mark Winn, Cabinet Member for Housing & Regulatory Services said: "The unguarded mezzanine floor was a very obvious risk to health and safety and one which could have been easily addressed with the installation of adequate barriers. There is no excuse for such an oversight which resulted in serious life-changing injuries for the employee involved. We hope this case will be a lesson to all employers to ensure that they take their health and safety at work responsibilities seriously."
HS2 Planning Application Sparks Controversy in Wendover
Train lines between Aylesbury and London closed this weeend
Aylesbury MP's launches work experience opportunity for young people
HS2 to reduce number of HGVs using narrow Bucks street
Frying pans at the ready for Buckingham Pancake Races
Man fined after being caught dumping mattresses at fly-tipping hotspot
Florence Nightingale Hospice joins This Is Hospice Care campaign to change perceptions of hospice care
Man sentenced for drug offences in High Wycombe
