West Yorkshire based Alliance Property Holdings Limited, which trades as McColl’s, pled guilty to a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 at Paisley Sheriff Court on 17 July 2025 and was fined £6,000.
The prosecutor told the court that at around 12.30pm on 25 May 2023 within RS McColl, Paisley, the branch supervisor went to the storeroom to retrieve stock.
She was using a stepladder to access the stock stored on a high shelf and while doing this she fell from the stepladder.
A colleague heard a thud and saw the woman lying on the floor, with her head leaning against a plastic box.
Paramedics were called to the scene and, using a backboard, took the woman to Royal Alexandria Hospital
She was found to have fractured ribs, a fractured right elbow and a head injury resulting in swelling. She subsequently underwent surgery on her elbow which required a plate insertion.
Local authority Environmental Health Officers conducted a safety check of the stepladder, using publicly available guidance, and found that the right-hand side of each of the stepladder rungs had severely worn treads, which were smooth over large areas, resulting in no grip on these parts of the treads.
The Renfrewshire Council investigation found the company had failed to ensure that this piece of work equipment was maintained in effective working order and in good repair.
The stepladder had been in use over the last 28 years and it is not known when it became defective.
Since this incident all RS McColl stores in the UK were provided with an updated ladder procedure detailing how to use ladders safely as well as how to determine basic faults.
Equipment found to be damaged or defective must be immediately taken out of use until properly repaired or replaced.
Speaking after the sentencing, Debbie Carroll, who leads on health and safety investigations for the COPFS, said:
"This accident could have been avoided if Alliance Property Holdings Limited had put in place the appropriate protective measures in ensuring work equipment, in this case a stepladder, was maintained in good working order.
“Hopefully this prosecution will remind other employers that failure to fulfil their obligations can have severe consequences and that they will be held to account for their failings."
Further information
Alliance Property Holdings Limited pled guilty to contraventions of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, Regulation 5(1) and the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, Section 33(1)(c) at Paisley Sheriff Court on 17 July 2025 and was fined £6,000 with a victim surcharge of £350.
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s Health and Safety Investigation Unit (HSIU) leads the investigation and prosecution of all health and safety cases across Scotland.
Ladder and stepladder safety checks
Publicly available guidance can be found in thedocument ‘LA455 Safe Use of Ladders and Stepladders’ issued by the Health and Safety Executive and The Ladder Association.