Judge Orders BT Openreach to Pay GBP500k After Engineer Accident

The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales (Old Bailey) has fined a “disappointed” BT (Openreach) £500,000 and ordered it to pay costs of £98,913.51 after one of their engineers, David Spurgeon, fell 7 metres from a loft, shattering both ankles and suffering back injuries.

According to CourtNewsUK (members only), Spurgeon was working alone in the attic space at a block of flats when he slipped and plunged through ceiling tiles on to a concrete stairwell. BT allowed the engineer to retire on medical grounds in 2013, which happened two years after the original accident in 2011.

Earlier reports of the case suggested that BT could have been facing a fine worth millions of pounds and in its defence the operator is understood to have accused their former employee of “being unreliable and milking his condition“. But Judge John Bevan QC branded such claims as “not necessary, misplaced and unfortunate.”

A Spokesperson for Openreach (BT) told ISPreview.co.uk:

“We are disappointed with this conviction. The safety of the public and BT people is always our primary concern and we have a strong track record in this area as recognised by the judge.

BT is always looking for ways to improve the safety and security of our people and their work environment.”

Generally Openreach and other operators always put their staff through some fairly frequent safety training. As a result engineers may refuse to do a job if their Health & Safety regulations get in way, which can thus require additional support to complete. Obviously this can also cause delays and frustration. But in this case the court clearly felt as if there had been a number of failures with health and safety management.