DP World Southampton fined £1m after dock worker fell

Christopher Hooper, 31, was working at DP World Southampton's terminal when he fell through an open hole in the driver's cab of a straddle carrier. 

The Winchester man landed on the concrete floor 11 metres below, fracturing his skull, back, pelvis, arm, wrist and ankle.

Health and Safety Executive inspectors have since found that his employer, Southampton Container Terminals Limited, trading as DP World Southampton, failed to ensure there was a safe system of work at its Western Avenue site.

Equipment Christopher Hooper was working on when he fell at DP World Southampton's container terminal (Image: HSE)

The hole had been created by contractors who were replacing a glass floor when Hooper, who had been working for DP World since he was 17, fell whilst carrying out routine maintenance work.

The HSE investigation found the company failed to ensure there was a system of work that ensured the replacement of the glass floor and routine maintenance work could be carried out safely at the same time.

The company also failed to put in place a risk assessment and failed to implement its own policy for the use of permits to work whilst working at height.

Mr Hooper, who was 29 at the time, said in a victim personal statement: “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.”

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.

Equipment Christopher Hooper was working on when he fell at DP World Southampton's container terminal (Image: HSE)

The company was fined £1 million and ordered to pay £11,664.59 in costs at Southampton Magistrates’ Court on August 2.

HSE inspector Francesca Arnold said the incident resulted in "severe life-changing injuries" adding that Mr Hooper is "lucky to be alive".

She said: "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.”

A spokesperson for DP World Southampton told the Echo: “Keeping people safe is the absolute priority for everyone at DP World Southampton and we fully understand the impact that this incident has had on the worker affected and shall continue to do everything we can to support him.

"Our commitment to safety is evidenced by our track record and in particular the consistent enhancement in our Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) over the last 15 years, the result of a substantial investment in safety training, awareness, and infrastructure.”

“Although it was formally acknowledged in this case that our efforts to make people safer were a mitigating factor, regrettably we fell short of meeting our high safety standards this time.

"We would like to make it clear that we have reviewed our operational systems and procedures and updated them as necessary to avoid any future incidents of a similar nature.

"We are confident that our dedicated team at DP World Southampton will continue to make progress in setting and maintaining the highest standards of safety in the industry.”

This prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Andy Siddall and supported by HSE paralegal officer Rebecca Withell.