Port operator DP World Southampton has been fined £1m ($1.27m) after an employee fell more than 10 metres and was seriously injured.
Christopher Hooper fell through an open hole in the driver’s cab of a straddle carrier, landing on the concrete floor below, according to the UK’s Health & Safety Executive (HSE).
The HSE said the hole had been created by contractors that were replacing a glass floor, exposing Hooper and other workers to the risk of falling from height.
The 31-year-old suffered fractures to his skull, back, pelvis, arm, wrist and ankle in the incident at the Southampton terminal in southern England in September 2022.
Hooper, who had worked for the port operator since he was 17, had been doing routine maintenance work and was said to be “unaware of the open hole before falling onto the floor”.
HSE inspectors found that his employer, Southampton Container Terminals, trading as DP World Southampton, failed to ensure there was a “safe system of work at its site”.
The port operator “failed to ensure there was a system of work that ensured the replacement of the glass floor and routine maintenance work could be carried out safely at the same time”.
“The company also failed to ensure there was a risk assessment in place and failed to implement its own policy for the use of permits to work whilst working at height,” the HSE added.
Hooper, who was 29 at the time of the incident, said in his victim personal statement: “I feel like a puppet in my life who is being moved from therapy to therapy with no control over where I am going.
“It feels like my life is in a waiting room, early out of hospital I had closer milestones that felt achievable whereas now no one can tell me what I can do next and that is really impacting my day-to-day life as I don’t know what the rest of my life will look like.”
HSE inspector Francesca Arnold said: “This incident has resulted in severe life-changing injuries for Mr Hooper, who is lucky to be alive.
“His life has completely changed because of Southampton Container Terminals Ltd’s failure to produce a suitable risk assessment and implement straightforward control measures.
“The hazards of working at height are well known and documented and this prosecution should now remind employers that a failure to manage and implement effective measures can have serious consequences and they will be held accountable for this failure.”
A DP World Southampton spokesman told local media: “Keeping people safe is the absolute priority for everyone at DP World Southampton and we fully understand the impact that this incident has had on the worker affected and shall continue to do everything we can to support him.
“Our commitment to safety is evidenced by our track record and in particular the consistent enhancement in our Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate … over the last 15 years, the result of a substantial investment in safety training, awareness and infrastructure.
“Although it was formally acknowledged in this case that our efforts to make people safer were a mitigating factor, regrettably we fell short of meeting our high safety standards this time.
“We would like to make it clear that we have reviewed our operational systems and procedures and updated them as necessary to avoid any future incidents of a similar nature.”
