An electrical appliance company has been prosecuted after an employee was killed when he fell from a mobile elevated work platform (MEWP) and died.

Whirlpool UK Appliances Limited pleaded guilty at Bristol Crown Court to breaching section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It was fined £700,000 with £11,466.

The victim, a 66-year-old self-employed contractor, was using the MEWP to install revised fire detection equipment at a former Indesit factory in Yate, near Bristol on 21 March 2015.


At the same time, Whirlpool UK maintenance workers started an overhead conveyor unaware that the contractor was working nearby. The movement caused the MEWP to tip over and the man fell nearly five metres to the floor. He later died from his injuries.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found there was no effective control or supervision in place to prevent the conflicting work tasks from being undertaken at the same time.

HSE inspector Matt Tyler said: "This is a tragic case where the incident could have been prevented if the company had planned and controlled the work properly."

(LM/MH)