A plant hire company has been fined £200,000 for health and safety failings that lead to an employee falling five metres to his death.

The HSE prosecuted Ashtead Plant Hire Co Ltd, trading as APlant, after the death of Phillip Pearce, 55, at its depot in Tovil, Maidstone.

The company admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Mr Pearce, from Lordswood, Chatham, had worked as a fitter at the company’s depot in Tovil for less than three months when he died on August 16, 2006.

His job had been to prepare accommodation units which were then hired out to construction companies.

He fell after climbing on top of two units stacked on top of each other to help attach lifting chains so that the top one could be lifted down.

He fell more than five metres and died at the scene.

Ashtead Plant Hire Co Ltd had a written procedure for working on top of the units in its depots and at customers’ sites.

This required people to wear a safety harness and reel line and climb a secured ladder. If they slipped or fell, the line would lock and prevent a serious fall.

But the investigation found that workers at the depot had not been issued with this kit or been trained to use it and most did not know the company had a special procedure for doing this work.

The court heard that despite the depot handling up to 15 accommodation unit movements a day, management did not ensure workers were aware of the procedure and did not ensure that the work was only done by those who were trained, equipped and authorised.

HSE Inspector John Underwod said: “This was a wholly avoidable incident which led to a tragic and totally unnecessary loss of life.

“It is completely inexcusable that the company had identified the risks, prepared an adequate procedure to manage the risk, and then failed to implement that procedure to protect their workers.

“Health and safety is not just about filling in forms or thinking about risk, it’s about taking action to prevent peoplee being killed or injured while trying to do their job.

“I hope this case will be an example to other companies that not only must health and safety be taken seriously but also followed through.”

The company, based at Dalton Ave in Birchwood Park, Warrington, was also ordered to pay £15,698.30 in costs at Maidstone Crown Court.