Glass company and contractor fined after person falls from top of oven

Peterlee Glass Company Limited was fined £2,631 (inc. costs) and Neil Shield, a ventilation system engineer, was fined £4,580 (inc.costs) after a contractor sustained life threatening injuries.

The circumstances were:

• Neil Shield (trading as Shield Ventilation Services) was a contractor engaged by Peterlee Glass to dismantle an industrial box oven.
• The dismantling work had not been properly planned by the contractor.
• The control of contractors by the glass company was inadequate.
• The contractors started to dismantle the oven.
• The injured person was standing on the roof of the oven when he stumbled and fell from the top of the oven, landing on the ground. 
• His injuries were so severe he was put in an induced coma by paramedics at the scene. He sustained a number of injuries, namely a fractured neck, sternum, skull, and collarbone and has permanently lost the sight in his right eye. He has not returned to work since the accident.