British Airways has been fined more than £3.2 million after a luggage handler suffered a bleed on the brain and another broke his back when they fell from height while working at Heathrow Airport.
Two employees were injured in “near identical” incidents just months apart while using loading equipment that did not have sufficient protection including edge guard rails, London’s Southwark Crown Court heard.
Ravinder Teji, a ground operation agent who had been with the company for seven years, suffered back injuries and cut his head after falling 1.5 metres to the ground from a televator on August 25 2022; while Shahjahan Malik was “seriously injured” with a bleed on the brain after plunging 3.0m as he used TLD elevator on March 8 2023.
Televators and TLD elevators are machines that are used to load baggage containers into aircraft holds. Operators can be between 1.5m and 3.0 metres above ground level while they are in use.
British Airways PLC previously pleaded guilty to two breaches of Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 in the criminal prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
BA was accused of failing to ensure suitable and sufficient measures were taken to protect employees.
This included those working at height who face a risk of falling a distance and being injured while using ground service equipment such as televators, for the loading and offloading of baggage from aircraft.
Judge Brendan Finucane KC said, “I am satisfied that in both incidents the culpability was high” as he fined BA £3,208,333 and also ordered it to pay £20,935 in costs and a £120 victim surcharge.
