When they are stacked on a forklift to change a lightbulb!
Two Morecambe Industrial Estate Managers felt the full force of Health and Safety Law when they were taken to court for the impromptu act.
Jonathan Shaw and Stephen Fawcett pleaded guilty to breaches of H&S legislation when they appeared at Lancaster Magistrates Court earlier this month.
The Court heard that 69 year old Fawcett was wearing no harness or safety equipment as he was perched on top of the pallet ‘stack’ and also admitted that there were no preventative measures on the ground to keep the public safe.
On top of the pallets was a cage and the whole thing was held together by one ratchet-tensioned strap around the width of the pallets. A passer-by captured the scene on their mobile phone (see picture).
Lancaster Council claimed that the arrangement was at best ‘precarious’ and at worst ‘reckless’ being both a danger to the two workers and any public nearby.
Both men were fined £8,000 in what seems like the most expensive light bulb change ever!
