24 January 2019
The States Employment Board (SEB) was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay £5,000 costs by the Royal Court on 18th January 2019 after pleading guilty to a breach of Article 3 of the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law 1989.
The prosecution followed an incident that occcurred on 22nd December 2017 whilst work was taking place to unblock a water pump that had been removed from a sump at the Central Laundry, operated by the Health and Social Services Department, in Five Oaks. The engineer involved was injured when the pump started whilst he was working on it, trapping his hand.
Investigation by the Health and Safety Inspectorate into the accident identified that there had been no risk assessment or safe work method statement prepared for what was a fairly frequent task. A safe system of work for the task would have ensured that the machinery was safely isolated from sources of energy prior to any maintenance work taking place.
Further information
Guidance on Risk Assessment
Guidance on the Electricity at Work (Jersey) Regulations
Guidance on Safe Electrical Isolation on Electrical Safety First website
gov.je