Accident at work in a London Prison

ThyssenKrupp Elevator (TKE) UK Limited, the elevator company has been fined for safety failings that came to light when one of its engineers was killed by electrocution whilst working on a lift at London’s Pentonville Prison.

Tragically, a 53 year old worker was killed and found by a prison employee. A Health and Safety Executive investigation concluded that he had not isolated the lift from the power supply whist working on it and created a path to earth for the live conductor and the metal parts of the lift structure.

This contractor is one of the most significant contractors working on all lifts in UK Prisons. They had not provided sufficient instructions for its workers providing electrical systems. The company had not provided equipment which was fit for use. One of the instruments had an excessive amount of metal showing and as a result had caused a ‘flashover’ of the electrical current.

The company did admit breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 before Westminster Magistrates Court. The company was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court receiving £100,000.00 fine and were ordered to pay £25,748.00 of legal costs.

This is a case which could have been easily avoided and it is the sort of very sad account which the personal injury department at Hubbard Pegman & Whitney are always most concerned to hear. Employers are heavily regulated in accordance with the Health and Safety at Work Act and a whole raft of other regulations.

Charlotte Pegman specialises in accidents which occur in prisons to prison officers but also looks at other types of contractors and/or employees. If you have been injured whilst working in a prison, please be aware that Hubbard Pegman & Whitney have years of collective experience in representing employees working in a prison environment in the UK.