A specialist construction company has been fined \u00a360,000 after a worker fell to his death from a church steeple in Birmingham.<\/p>\n
David Clover was employed by Ecclesiastical Steeplejacks Ltd to carry out restoration work to St Nicholas\u2019 Church in Kings Norton on 13 November 2020. The 64-year-old steeplejack had been suspended from the 60 metre tall steeple of the Grade 1 listed building, sitting in a \u2018bosun\u2019s chair\u2019 \u2013 a work positioning seat \u2013 when he fell, suffering fatal injuries.<\/p>\n
Steeplejack David Clover was suspended from the 60 metre tall steeple carrying out restoration works<\/p>\n
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identified that the bosun\u2019s chair was not supported by a suitable backup system preventing falls, such as, a double or twin leg lanyard fall arrest harness.<\/p>\n
Working at height remains one of the biggest causes of fatalities and major injuries. 50 people died as a result of a fall from height in 2023\/24. HSE guidance is available<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ecclesiastical Steeplejacks Ltd, which has ceased trading since the incident, pleaded guilty to contravening Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. It was fined \u00a360,000 at a hearing at Birmingham Magistrates\u2019 Court on 15 January 2025.<\/p>\n Mr Clover had been sat in a \u2018bosun\u2019s chair\u2019 \u2013 a work positioning seat \u2013 when he fell, suffering fatal injuries<\/p>\n In passing sentence, Judge Quereshi found the company had outdated attitudes to managing health and safety.<\/p>\n After the hearing, HSE inspector Emma Page said: \u201cFalls from height remain one of the leading causes of work-related deaths and injury in Great Britain.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will take action against companies that fail to protect workers.<\/p>\n \u201cOur thoughts remain with the family of David Clover.\u201d<\/p>\n This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Julian White and paralegal officer Imogen Isaac.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Further information:<\/strong><\/p>\n The Health and Safety Executive<\/a>\u00a0(HSE) is Britain\u2019s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives. A specialist construction company has been fined \u00a360,000 after a worker fell to his death from a church steeple in Birmingham. David Clover was employed by Ecclesiastical Steeplejacks Ltd to carry out restoration work to St Nicholas\u2019 Church in Kings Norton on 13 November 2020. The 64-year-old steeplejack had been suspended from the 60 metre…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMore information about the\u00a0legislation<\/a>\u00a0referred to in this case is available.
\nFurther details on the latest\u00a0HSE news releases<\/a>\u00a0is available.
\nHSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.\u00a0 The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences in England and Wales can be found\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0and for those in Scotland\u00a0here<\/a>.
\nHSE guidance on working safely at height<\/a> is available.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"