Height Work: Penalties for

Contravening Workplace
Safety and Health Legislation

30th April 2021

 Today’s Specials:
a) Case Study on Occupational Safety and
Health (OSH) Prosecution
b) What constitutes work at height
c) OSH Offences and penalties as prescribed by
Kenyan law.
• A construction company was fined after HSE
inspectors found unsafe working at height
practises and other unsafe site operations during
a routine inspection.
• Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court heard that on 8
October 2019, a routine inspection was
undertaken at a construction site in Redditch,
Worcestershire following a report of a fall from
height
• During the inspection there was evidence of
poor management of work at height, and
numerous other uncontrolled site safety risks.
• This included unsafe work on a flat roof
where there was no edge protection as
required by the regulations to prevent a fall
from height, despite there having been a fall
from the same flat roof eight days earlier.
• SSF Construction Limited of The Old Foundry,
Ash Street, Bilston, West Midlands pleaded
guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the
Work at Height Regulations 2005 and
Regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design
and Management) Regulations 2015. They
were fined £48,000 (Ksh 7.2 million) and
ordered to pay costs of £3,443 (Ksh 518,000) .
• Other significant risks identified during the
inspection confirmed a widespread failure to
manage and monitor the site to protect
workers and others from foreseeable risks.
• Work at height is work in any place, including
a place at, above or below ground level,
where a person could be injured if they fell
from that place.
• Access and egress to a place of work can also
be work at height.
Working on trestles
• Working on a flat or sloping roof
• Working on a ladder
• Working at ground level adjacent to an excavation
• Working on formwork within an excavation
• Working near or adjacent to fragile materials
• Working on a cell phone or electricity
transmission line tower
Erecting false work Erecting formwork
Main laws applicable to height work are:
a) The Occupational Safety and Health Act,
2007
b) The Factories (Building Operations and Works
of Engineering Construction) Rules 1984
c) Kenya does not have a specific regulation on
Work at height
• Some work at height issues have been
addressed by these Rules
• Rule 5 indicates that every contractor shall
comply with the requirements of these Rules
designed to ensure the health, safety and
welfare of all persons engaged in building
operations or works of engineering construction
undertaken by him or in any activity incidental
to and at the site of the building operations or
works of engineering construction.
 Offences and penalties under the
Occupational Safety and Health Act 2007

• Offences and penalties are addressed under

Part XIII of the Act
• Sect. 109. (1) Any person who commits an
offence under this Act for which no express
penalty is provided shall on conviction be
liable to a fine not exceeding three hundred
thousand shillings or to imprisonment for a
term not exceeding three months or to both.
• Sect. 111. If any person is killed, or dies, suffers any
bodily injury, in consequence of the occupier or owner
of a workplace having contravened any provision of
this Act, the occupier or owner of the workplace shall,
without prejudice to any other penalty, be liable to a
fine not exceeding one million shillings or, to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months;
and the whole or any part of the fine may be applied
for the benefit of the injured person or his family or
otherwise as the Cabinet Secretary may determine:
• Provided that—
a) in the case of injury to health, the occupier or owner
shall not be liable to a penalty under this section
unless the injury was caused directly by the
contravention; and
b) the occupier or owner shall not be liable to a penalty
under this section if a charge against him under this
Act in respect of the act or default by which the death
or injury was caused has been heard and dismissed
before the death or injury occurred.
 Take safety as seriously, if not more
seriously, than anything else you do. To
be truly excellent, safety must be not just
a priority, but the principle at the core of
everything the firm does.
Thank You

40