Metcalfe Fencing Contractors Ltd has been fined £22,000 after an employee sustained severe spinal fractures following a fall from a ladder. The incident occurred on 10 December 2024, at a site in North Tyneside, where the 23-year-old worker was erecting an acoustic fence. The company was also ordered to pay £5,327 in costs at South Tyneside Magistrates Court on 29 September 2026.
The injury to the young worker came about during the installation of a four-metre-tall, 265-metre-long section of acoustic fencing. This work was being carried out between the busy A19 near Holystone and a residential housing estate. The operational plan necessitated the use of a ladder positioned on uneven, muddy ground, a method that inherently presented significant risks.
Further compounding the hazards, an excavator was deployed to lift the large fence panels. The procedure involved lifting these panels over the head of the operator on the ladder.
During this phase of the operation, the slings attached to the excavator became entangled with the ladder. This entanglement caused the ladder to tip unexpectedly, resulting in the employee falling approximately two metres to the ground below. The fall led directly to the worker suffering debilitating spinal fractures, highlighting the severe consequences of inadequate safety protocols.
An investigation conducted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) meticulously uncovered multiple failings on the part of Metcalfe Fencing Contractors Limited. The investigation concluded that the company had failed to adequately plan both the lifting operation and the associated work at height activities. These failures were identified as direct breaches of fundamental health and safety regulations, which mandate employers to ensure the safety and well-being of their workforce.
Falls from height consistently remain one of the foremost causes of serious injury and fatalities in workplaces across Great Britain. HSE guidance explicitly states that all employers bear the responsibility for ensuring that any lifting operations and work at height activities are not only properly planned but also executed in a manner that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe. This includes a critical assessment of whether work at height can be entirely eliminated, or if not, how the risks can be rigorously controlled and mitigated.
Metcalfe Fencing Contractors Ltd, based in The Annexe Heatherlands, Grantley, Ripon, subsequently pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. This section places a general duty on employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all their employees. The court’s decision to impose a substantial fine of £22,000, alongside significant costs, underscores the gravity of the company’s safety omissions.
HSE inspector Matthew Dundas commented on the incident, emphasising the preventable nature of such accidents. He stated, “Every year, a significant proportion of accidents, many of them serious and sometimes fatal, occur as a result of poorly planned lifting operations or work at height activities.” Inspector Dundas further elaborated, “This particular incident was wholly avoidable. Had the company used reasonable practicable measures such as remote release clamps on the lifting equipment, and tag-lines to avoid the need to work on a ladder, this injury would not have occurred.” His remarks highlight the availability of straightforward, effective safety measures that, if implemented, could have prevented the worker’s
life-altering injuries. This case serves as a reminder to all employers of their legal and moral obligations to protect their employees from foreseeable risks.
This story was originally published by HSE Media Centre
