Woman, 37, exposed to ‘unacceptable level of risk’ – Health and Safety Executive
Inside Siemens Gamesa site in Hull(Image: Hull Live)
Siemens Gamesa has been fined following an incident in which an employee suffered serious, life-changing injuries at the company’s wind turbine blade manufacturing site in Hull. The incident was described as “wholly avoidable” by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which brought a prosecution.
A report by the HSE said that on July 18, 2024, a 37-year-old woman was carrying out work as part of the construction of a wind turbine blade when a structure they were working on collapsed on top of them, leaving them paralysed from the waist down. The task being undertaken at the time of the incident involved building the web section of the blade, a large internal structure running almost the full length of the blade to provide rigidity and prevent buckling in strong winds, functioning much like a spine.
The incident occurred at the pre-cast section of the web, which sits at the root end of the blade where it connects to the rotor. This section weighs approximately 800kg before additional materials are added during the build process.
As the employee and a colleague were preparing the pre-cast section to be wrapped in materials, it fell towards them after support poles, which had been holding the structure in place, were removed. An HSE investigation found that the company failed to adequately assess the risks arising from the work; failed to devise and implement a robust safe system of work to prevent employees from removing the support poles; and failed to adequately train employees in safe working methods.
As a result, employees adopted unsafe practices to complete the task. Following the incident, the company implemented a system whereby support poles are locked in place and can only be unlocked by a nominated person holding the key, once the relevant stage of the build has been completed.
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £600,000 and ordered to pay £7,980.80 in costs at Grimsby Magistrates’ Court, on May 22.
Mark Slater, HSE inspector, said: “All work activities that carry a risk to health and safety must be properly risk assessed, and safe systems of work must be devised and implemented. Where protective measures are provided to prevent catastrophic incidents in high-risk areas, secondary measures such as lock-off procedures should also be in place.
“In this case, inadequate risk assessment and inadequate systems of work left employees to adopt their own working methods, exposing them to an unacceptable level of risk. This was a wholly avoidable incident.”
The prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Nathan Cook and paralegal officer Henrietta Ruthven. A Siemens Gamesa spokesperson said: “We would like to express our sincere and profound regret for the incident that occurred in July 2024 and the injuries sustained by our employee.
“As a business, we have taken this incident extremely seriously and carried out an extensive review to learn from what happened. The health and safety of our employees is our top priority, and we are committed to maintaining a safe working environment for all.”
Employers are required by law to protect your employees, and others, from harm, said HSE, and assessing risk is just one part of the overall process used to control risks in the workplace. Extensive guidance on managing risks and risk assessment at work is available on the HSE website.
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