Health board fined £400k after UHW window cleaner injured

AN NHS board has been fined £400,000 after a window cleaner plunged more than 50ft while working at a Cardiff hospital.

Christopher Rees, 46, suffered a broken back after falling while cleaning windows on the fourth floor.

Mr Rees was using abseiling equipment to clean windows at the 1,000-bed University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff.

But a court heard he fell from the end of the beam supporting him as there was no “end stop” fitted and suffered “significant and lifechanging injuries”.

An investigation found that Mr Rees’ employer WD Rees Maintenance had failed to effectively plan the window-cleaning.

It also found that Cardiff and Vale University Health Board failed to undertake suitable checks to ensure the company was competent to carry out the work.

Cardiff Crown Court heard the health board provided the beam, but failed to ensure that it had been examined for safety.

The board pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety At Work Act and was fined £400,000. It was also ordered to pay £15,846 in costs.

Company director Wayne Daniel Rees, 55, of Gallamuir Road, Tremorfa, Cardiff, pleaded guilty to breaching the Work at Height Regulations 2005. He was banned from being a company director for five years.

The accident happened in September 2016 at the hospital’s Women’s Services Unit.

Health & Safety Executive inspector Gethyn Jones said: “Dutyholders must ensure that all work at height activities are properly planned, appropriately supervised and undertaken in a safe manner.

“It is essential that companies employing contractors do not simply rely on the knowledge and experience of the contractor but make reasonably practicable checks themselves to ensure work is safely completed.”