An estate agent boss has told of his shock after a woman fell 30 feet down a disused well during a viewing.
The 39-year-old fell at around noon on Saturday, with her ordeal lasting until 3.30pm when she was pulled out.
Miraculously, she was able to walk to the ambulance which took her to hospital. She apparently suffered a cut to her head and was released within a few hours.
Police, fire crews and paramedics had all rushed to the incident.
The agents, Strakers, in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, said the well was hidden in shrubbery.
Managing director Antony Bulley said the property was an executor’s sale and there had been no one who could have told them of the existence of the well.
He said that the well had been covered with chipboard and thought that this may have replaced the original metal covering.
He said the incident during the accompanied viewing was deeply shocking and the outcome could have been so much worse.
Praising the emergency services, he said they were all absolutely brilliant.
He said: “We were clearly shocked when this incident occurred.
“Our immediate concern was for the wellbeing of the lady concerned, and we are grateful for the prompt actions of the emergency services in dealing with this awful incident.
“We are co-operating with authorities and will also carry out our own investigation into what happened, and will look to see what procedures can be put in place to identify hidden and unannounced hazards and to ensure this cannot happen again.
“From an internal point of view, there are implications for agents whose negotiators and valuers may be at a property on their own – for example, they might pop back to a property to take a better picture and not put that in their diary.
“If something like this had happened to one of our staff, we would not have a clue where they were.”
A disturbing incident, if you or your staff at risk by being on their own you should have a ‘Lone Worker System’ in place.
With what can happen as per the Lamplugh incident, I am surprised LOW systems are not in place, as Health and Safety Regulaions would be very different to 1986.
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I’m sure that most Estate Agents have a very strict Lone Worker Policy in place however this normally relates to personal safety in regards to protecting oneself from potential threats from human perpetrators of crime especially in relation to Suzy Lamplugh. That’s not to say that other Health and Safety issues are ignored.
The point of this story is that the Agents had no way of knowing that the hazard was there, no-one to provide details. A lone working policy would not take into account the unpredictable eg an agent that may have fallen down a well and that if they had a full diary it may have been a couple of hours before their absence was noticed. Furthermore if they were knocked unconscious it could have taken time to find them even if the employer tried tracing their tracks.
Personally, as an employer, I’m grateful to the Agent for pointing out this scenario. We will also be tightening up our procedures to ensure that our Agents check in with the office on an even more regular basis.
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I love people who are negative with positive comments.
I worked in an industry with lone working, and staff had to clock into sites with a time to be on site and out again this ensures that time is not wasted, waiting hours as refered to my Yorkshire Landlord, is not good enough for the H&SE.
The negative people may be the ones who are trapped on a site, last call of day etc, you have a choose to look after your colleages and staff, or not.
Woodentop: Very good point.
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As a qualified health and safety consultant we work with many different organisations across the UK. I recently raised the issue of lone worker and lack of risk assessments with a local Southampton agent who is involved in sales and lettings. The key requirements under HSAWA 1974 and associated regulations spell out in detail what employers need to do to protect the welfare of their employees.
Unfortunately very few agents have robust h&s systems in place and in the event of a similar incident happening the local authority or the HSE would almost certainly want to examine the company procedures to establish if the organisation has complied with the law. Under the HASAWA 1974 it requires companies with 5 employees or more to carry out ‘suitable and sufficient’ risk assessments to identify hazards in order to protect employees, contractors,visitors and members of the public.
if a company does not have written procedures, risk assessments adequate training, instruction and supervision in place the you are in legal breach of your duties as an employer and will most likely be fines by the HSE and be liable for compensation payouts under civil litigation cases brought by the injured party.
the question business owners need to ask is this, when your staff are out valuing empty properties what would happen if they had an accident? What would happen if whilst showing a buyer around they had an accident? How would you as the owner of the agency defend your self in court? There are some simple things you can do to protect your business which include:-
1. Ensure your staff are trained in hazard spitting (important for instruction takers / valuers)
2. Identify the risks and communicate the findings.
3. Put in place controls to reduce the risk .
4. Monitor and review you policy and procedures.
in short, if agents fail to implement effective health and safety systems they will find it very difficult to defend against claims from not only employees but members of the public and contractors.
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What type of training is involved in hazard spitting?
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Rigorous.
I would have to liken it to the achievement of a PhD – or maybe even a Blue Peter Badge…
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You need to tell your insurers immediately if not done so. I know an agent who had a similar issue with a cellar stairs and “injury lawyer for you” popped up a week later. Everyone was flabbergasted as the lady in that case was so understanding with the agent until the pound signs were put in front of her. The insurers tried to get out of the small print, as they were not informed as soon as the incident had happened as per policy conditions. That case has been going on for 2 years and not finalised. The agent as I am sure everyone will know is liable for H&S if they accompany a viewing.
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Great Advice!
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well,well,well…
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