Anglian Water Fined

4 May 2010, 10:22 | Updated: 4 May 2010, 10:42

Anglian Water has been fined more than £25,000 after admitting breaching health and safety laws.

It's after a technician fell through the roof of a pumping station in the village of Willingham in 2007.

The sub-contractor, 28 year old Matthew Morgan, fell through the unmarked fragile roof light while taking a reading from a rain gauge.

He was employed by IETG ltd, a company based in Leeds.

Anglian Water, which owns and runs the pumping station, sub-contracts IETG Ltd to carry out some work on its behalf.

The fall left Mr Morgan with a fractured vertebra, cuts and bruises and ongoing back pain since the accident.

IETG admitted breaching part of the health and safety at work and was fined £1,500 and ordered to pay £3,219 costs.

Anglian Water, based in Huntingdon, admitted failing to adequately identify the risks associated with working near the unmarked fragile skylights, and was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay £3,261 costs.

Anglian Water also admitted breaching a separate section of the health and safety at work act, and was fined a further £12,000 with £6,286 costs.

While investigating the fall, Health & Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors found problems with the safety of a number of machines at Anglian Water's sewage treatment plant in Angel Drove in Ely.

According to the HSE, some machines were missing safety guards, which protect workers from dangerous moving parts.

Also, some devices designed to isolate power from machines were not working properly, meaning machines could automatically start up when the guards were open.

More follows later - including Anglian Water statement.