A caravan park operator has been fined after a workman fell to
his death in a hay barn near Doncaster.
Clifford Hartley, 59, from Skegness, was reroofing a barn at
Westfield Farm, in Nutwell Lane, Armthorpe, which had been damaged
by fire. Inside the barn, a stack of hay bales had been positioned
to break any falls and offer a working platform.
However, when Mr Hartley fell from the roof on September 4,
2008, he landed 18in to the side of the hay bales and dropped on to
a concrete floor. He sustained fatal head
injuries.
The hay bales did not extend far enough inside the barn to offer
total protection and were only stacked to roof levels in parts, so
were effectively useless when Mr Hartley fell.
Blue Anchor Leisure Ltd, of Chapel St Leonards, pleaded guilty
to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 at
Doncaster Magistrates' Court after being prosecuted by the Health
and Safety Executive.
The company was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £4,964 in
costs.