Loading ramp fall fatality

LESH
6 minutes ago
2 min read

Bertschi UK fined £425,000 after fatal loading ramp fall

Bertschi UK Limited has been fined £425,000 after warehouse supervisor Peter Hutchinson, 60, died following a 1.5-metre fall from a mobile loading ramp onto a concrete floor during a container loading operation at the company's Middlesbrough site.

Mr Hutchinson, who had worked for the company since around 2009, was assisting with loading plastic waste bales into a shipping container on 4 November 2021. As he accessed the mobile loading ramp, a plastic bale slipped from the forklift truck, causing him to step backwards and fall from the ramp onto the concrete below. He suffered serious injuries and died in hospital on 23 November 2021.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Bertschi UK had failed to properly plan and assess the loading operation or adequately control the risks associated with pedestrians using the mobile loading ramp.

The investigation also found that the company had failed to install handrails on the ramp, despite the manufacturer's instructions clearly stating that pedestrians should not use it unless handrails were fitted.

HSE concluded that the company had also failed to consider safer alternatives that could have eliminated the need for work at height, such as using existing loading bays or placing containers on the ground before loading.

Following a trial at Teesside Crown Court in April 2026, Bertschi UK Limited was found guilty of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, Regulation 6(2) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and Regulation 4(1)(a) of the same regulations. On 17 July 2026, the company was fined £425,000 and ordered to pay £119,258 in costs.

HSE Inspector Cain Mitchell said the incident was "entirely preventable", adding that the manufacturer's instructions were clear that pedestrians should not have been using the ramp without handrails. He also stressed that employers must properly assess work at height, consider safer alternatives wherever possible and ensure new working practices are fully risk assessed before being introduced.

LESH Consulting Comments:

Falls from height remain to be the number 1 cause of workplace deaths in the UK, and this case shows why the definition includes any height, where you can fall and be injured. We regularly hear the misconception that anything less than 2 meters is fine, its not and this is the evidence.

LESH consulting Ltd are H&S experts based in Nottingham and aim to work with industrial clients to support their management systems and build confidence in their compliance.

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