A recent tale in the national news describes how a UK Supermarket retailer was fined £3.5 million in damages relating to the preventable death of a worker with epilepsy. As a news story, it serves as a cautionary tale for anybody who is considering why they need to be so strict about health and safety standards.
Failure to Protect Staff
Matthew Gunn was 27 and worked at a Morrisons store in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire in 2014. Matthew had epilepsy, and after having an epileptic seizure whilst using a shop stairway, he fell to the floor below, suffered fatal head injuries and died a few weeks later in hospital.
This is, understandably, a tragic event, but it is Morrisons who were found to be guilty of failing to ensure proper health and safety standards were carried out.
During the three-week trial, prosecution suggested that Morrisons should’ve been aware of the danger that could come from forcing an epileptic worker to use the stairs to head to his work locker. It is understood that he travelled the stairs at least eight times every day to reach his cigarettes, which were stored inside the locker.
Protecting Staff From Harm
Understandably, besides being a tragedy that has resulted in the death of someone just trying to do a job, the news article also serves as a cautionary tale for any business that no company is beyond reproach and legal ramifications for failing to uphold health and safety guidelines.
Businesses have a responsibility to put proper health and safety measures in place for the sake of protecting workers. The prosecution is entirely correct in that Morrisons should have paid more attention to the fact that it would be very dangerous to have an epileptic worker travel the stairs so many times, without having a service lift or access to another solution.
Making Positive Changes
Every business needs to consider the potential dangers that its workers could face, and then make responsible decisions on how to protect those workers. Whether this means implementing new rules and policies for people with health conditions, like epilepsy, or having access to an application that allows remote workers to be monitored.
However, the bottom line is that nobody is safe from harm, and it’s even more of a reason for people to try and be proactive when it comes to dealing with health and safety rules and regs.
Final Thoughts
If there is one lesson to be taken from this story, it’s that it can happen. Health and safety breaches can result in injury or even death, and assuming that it won’t because it is unlikely is very foolish. Businesses need to protect their workers, and they have a responsibility to try and be proactive about the measures that they put in place.
Ultimately, it would be best if this tale served as sufficient reason for any business to review their policies and make changes, so that nobody ever dies needlessly like this again.
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