Company fined £1 million after employee from Winchester fell 11 metres landing onto concrete

Christopher Hooper suffered fractures to his skull, back, pelvis, arm, wrist and ankle Credit: Health and Safety Executive

Southampton Container Terminals Limited has been fined £1million after an employee fell 11 metres.

31-year-old Christopher Hooper from Winchester, suffered fractures to his skull, back, pelvis, arm, wrist and ankle.

He fell through a open hole in the driver’s cab of a straddle carrier, landing onto concrete in 2022.

Christopher Hooper fell 11 metres Credit: HSE

The hole had been created by contractors that were replacing a glass floor.

The employee, who had worked for Southampton Container Terminals Limited since he was 17, had been undertaking routine maintenance work and was unaware of the open hole, before falling onto the floor.

Hooper, who was 29 at the time of the incident, says: "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."

The hole had been created by contractors that were replacing a glass floor Credit: HSE

Southampton Container Terminals Limited, of Palace Street, Westminster, London pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

The Company was fined £1 million and ordered to pay £11,664.59 in costs on 2 August 2024.

HSE inspector Francesca Arnold says: "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 Limited’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."

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