Council ordered to pay £230k after working injured when re-laying ice rink

Hull City Council has been ordered to pay nearly £230,000 in fines and costs after an employee fell and suffered broken ribs while re-laying ice at The Hull Ice Arena.

The incident took place on 30 August 2014 when the worker was marking lines for the ice hockey pitch at the venue.

The employee was walking towards the centre of the ice rink when he slipped and fell heavily onto the ice, suffering head injuries and breaking three ribs.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found there had been a number of previous incidents of employees slipping and falling on ice.

The city council pleaded guilty at Hull Crown Court to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £185,000 with £44,442.71 costs.

HSE inspector Denise Fotheringham said: "No effective measures had been taken to reduce the risks of employees working on ice.

"Measures could have included providing systems of work that avoided the need for working on ice in the first place. Where this was not reasonably practicable, providing suitable footwear for working on slippery surfaces such as ice would have been an appropriate measure against a quite obvious risk."