Questions need answering over ladder death

Raymond Jessop, 53, died after falling from a ladder while painting a council property in Cranswick Grove in Hull on Tuesday.

Mr Jessop was employed by Kier Building Maintenance which is responsible for the repair and maintenance of 10,000 Hull City Council properties.

Inquiries made by UCATT found that Mr Jessop had been working on a major project repainting 170 properties.

A union official who visited the site noted there was sufficient room for scaffolding to be erected or a mobile platform to have been used, rather than having to rely on a possibly unstable ladder.

And health and safety steering group minutes obtained by UCATT show that a health and safety representative from Kier originally recommended that the painting was performed using scaffolding.

The decision to use ladders was apparently taken because the workers were not trained in using tower scaffolding units and because "cost was an issue."

UCATT Yorkshire regional secretary Derek Johnson said: "All the evidence indicates that a decision to use ladders was taken on grounds of cost. This decision has had fatal consequences and a worker has died.

"It is essential that such a tragedy is never allowed to happen again. Kier, Hull City Council and all contractors must change their policies to ensure that ladders are not relied on when undertaking such large-scale painting projects."

Families Against Corporate Killing spokeswoman Hilda Palmer said: "This was the tragic and total unnecessary death of a man because his life was deemed by his employers not to be worth the cost of doing the job safely.

"Raymond Jessop did not deserve to die because of a cost-cutting exercise and, for their failure in the duty of care they owed him, his employers should be held to account."

The Health and Safety Executive confirmed that it was in the process of investigating the death.

When contacted by the Star, Kier confirmed the fatal incident but said it was co-operating with the ongoing investigation and therefore could not comment further. Hull City Council had not responded to queries by time of press.