The UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the case, which concluded this week at Southwark Crown Court. The airline pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching workplace safety regulations. Both injured employees were members of Unite the Union, which is the UK’s leading union representing workers in the airline industry.
The court found that British Airways failed to install appropriate safety features. In the first incident, which occurred in August 2022, baggage handler Ravinder Teji fell approximately 1.5 meters from a televator at Heathrow Terminal 5, sustaining back injuries and a head wound.
Seven months later, in March 2023, Shahjahan Malik fell nearly three meters in a similar incident, suffering a brain bleed and long-term neurological effects. Both incidents occurred during baggage loading operations and involved the same type of machinery. The company was fined $1.7 million (£1.33 million) in relation to the August 2022 incident and $2.5 million (£1.875 million) for the March 2023 case.
An investigation by the HSE found that the televators used in both cases had significant design shortcomings. Gaps were present between the televator guardrails and the aircraft fuselage, varying by aircraft type. These gaps increased after the front of the platforms at Terminal 5 were extended to better reach aircraft holds—yet additional fall prevention measures were not implemented.
According to HSE, at the time of the 2022 incident, British Airways had already begun a program to retrofit extendable guardrails to its televators following previous HSE visits. This program was completed after the incident occurred. HSE enforcement lawyer Rebecca Schwartz, who brought the prosecution, said:
“[In these cases] adequate guardrails would have significantly reduced the risk of harm. This was a reasonably foreseeable risk that British Airways should have been aware of, and therefore it should have done more to protect its employees.”
The HSE identified further risk factors in both cases. During operations, side flaps on the televators were sometimes left folded down, leaving exposed gaps through which employees could fall. In at least one case, the operator platform had not been fully extended towards the aircraft, increasing the distance between the worker and the fuselage.
Unite’s regional officer, Joe McGowan, noted: “Employers need to do more to protect workers from entirely avoidable hazards like falls from height.” Unite welcomed the ruling, calling it an important step towards ensuring safer conditions across UK airports. The union has emphasized that the company must now demonstrate that it has taken concrete steps to prevent future incidents.
As reported by the BBC, British Airways’ counsel James Leonard KC told the court that both injured employees had since returned to work in alternative roles, and the airline had “done everything they can do to facilitate that and to make sure that relevant adjustments have been made.”
The 2022 and 2023 incidents are not the first time British Airways’ ground operations have been the subject of safety enforcement action. The airline had previously pleaded guilty to health and safety offenses relating to a 2018 incident at Heathrow Airport. In that case, an employee was struck by a tug pulling a train of dollies and was subsequently dragged under another tug transporting luggage, resulting in serious crush injuries.
British Airways was fined $2.4 million (£1.8 million) following a Health and Safety Executive investigation, which found significant failings in the company’s management of workplace transport risks. These included inadequate supervision, insufficient training, and gaps in risk assessment procedures.
That same year, British Airways engineer John Coles died after his van collided with a safety vehicle near Terminal 5. The incident was attributed to visual interference and prompted an internal review of airside driving operations.
Source: Swifteradio.com
