Council fined £200k after man injured installing town’s Christmas tree

Bury Metropolitan Borough Council has been fined £200,000 after an employee was injured while installing the town’s 20-foot Christmas tree.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the council had failed to provide the employee with any training in the safe operation of the scissor lift he was using, and had failed to carry out a “sufficient risk assessment” for the activity.

The Christmas tree was being installed by an external company at Bury Market on 21 November 2022.

Council employee James Lyth was using a scissor lift to straighten the tree when it toppled over with him still in the basket.

According to HSE, Lyth suffered concussion and severe injuries to his right-hand side, including bruising to his ribs. He needed an operation to his leg and was left using a wheelchair and crutches after sustaining a large cut to his leg.

He was off work for two months and subsequently only able to return on restricted hours and duties as he continued his recovery.

Following investigation, the Health and Safety Executive found that a suitable risk assessment of the work “would have identified the dangers involved and the need to restrict the use of scissor lifts to those with appropriate training”.

Bury Metropolitan Borough Council pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

At a hearing at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on 2 April 2025, the local authority was fined £200,000 and ordered to pay costs.

HSE inspector Leanne Ratcliffe said: “This was a very serious incident. It is important for industry to understand the importance of a risk assessment and training when using elevated platforms. Access to these platforms should be limited to those trained and anyone who isn’t trained shouldn’t be allowed to use them.

“If this sort of work is not planned and controlled to a high degree, then there is a very high likelihood of a potentially fatal fall, or one resulting in very serious injury.”

The HSE warned that working at height remains one of the “leading causes” of workplace injury and death.

A spokesperson for Bury Metropolitan Borough Council said: “This was a very distressing and unfortunate incident that caused injury to one of our employees and was upsetting to passing shoppers.

“The wellbeing of our staff is of the utmost priority, and we already had a number of policies in place to ensure their health and safety, as well as training requirements.

“We accept, however, that our implementation of these procedures was not as rigorous as it should have been."

The spokesperson added: “Immediately following this incident, we carried out an urgent review of arrangements in relation to working at height, including training and equipment requirements. We also conducted a wider health and safety audit of Bury Market, and commissioned external consultants to carry out a comprehensive review of health and safety arrangements across the council as a whole.

 “The council has a very good safety record, and we have of course co-operated fully with the HSE from the outset.

 “The lessons learned from this event have been addressed at the most senior levels to ensure that there is no repeat of this one-off incident.”

Lottie Winson