Hotel operator ordered to pay £195,000 after employee suffered life-changing injuries

A hotel operator in Rutland has been ordered to pay more than £195,000 after an employee suffered life-changing injuries while trying to remove a loose branch from a tree using a makeshift platform.

The court heard that on 24 May 2021 Andrew Veasey and a colleague were working at Barnsdale Hall Hotel, which has since been rebranded to Rutland Hall Hotel and Spa. The pair were asked to remove a loose tree branch using a non-integrated working platform that has been attached to a JCB vehicle parked across a slope.

When the platform was raised, the vehicle toppled over and crushed the roof of a car before plummeting into a bank.

Veasey had to be resuscitated at the scene and sustained life-changing injuries which mean he is no longer able to care for himself.

An investigation, undertaken by Peterborough City Council, on behalf of Rutland County Council, revealed significant deficiencies in the defendant's risk assessments, level of training and instruction, safe use of machinery and system of work when carrying out non-routine tasks.

The case was heard at Leicester Magistrates Court on 19 September 2023, where the defendant pleaded guilty to a Section 2 offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, acknowledging it had failed in its duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all their employees.

Barnsdale Hall Hotel was ordered to pay a fine of £146,700, together with £50,000 costs and a £190 victim surcharge.

Cllr Christine Wise, cabinet member for public protection and community safety at Rutland County Council, said: "This is an extremely serious case where failure to put appropriate health and safety measures in place has caused life-changing injuries to an individual, as well as irreparable damage to a family that will never be the same again.

"The sentence imposed on the defendant following its guilty plea should serve as a clear warning that employers have a duty of care towards their staff and action will be taken in response to breaches of health and safety law.

"The employers in question have taken all of the required regulatory action required in response to the findings of our investigation. However, nothing can return Mr Veasey to full health and so it is important those responsible are held accountable to the full extent of the law."