British Airways (BA) fined after workers hurt at Heathrow

British Airways (BA) has been fined more than £3.2m after two of its luggage handlers suffered serious injuries in falls at Heathrow Airport.

The men were hurt in “near-identical” incidents at the west London airport while using televators – machines used to load luggage into planes – Southwark Crown Court heard.

Ravinder Teji suffered back injuries and cut his head when he fell 1.5m (4ft 11ins) in August 2022, while Shahjahan Malik suffered a bleed on the brain after falling 3m in March 2023.

The airline previously pleaded guilty to two breaches of safety regulations following a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Mr Teji was dealing with luggage from a short-haul flight, while Mr Malik was offloading luggage from a flight from Seattle, the HSE’s Andrew McGee told the court.

As well as a bleed on the brain, Mr Malik suffered fractures to his forehead, nose and jaw.

Judge Brendan Finucane KC said: “His jaw had to be sewed shut. He was on a fluid diet for months. He was on medication for a considerable period of time.

“He still suffers from ongoing pain and headaches from what happened to him.”

The televators had not been fitted with protection such as guardrails, the court heard.

Judge Finucane, who said he was “satisfied that in both incidents the culpability was high”, fined BA £3,208,333 and also ordered the airline to pay £20,935 in costs.

James Leonard KC, for BA, told the court that both men had returned to work in different roles and the company had “done everything they can to facilitate that and to make sure that relevant adjustments have been made”.

After the hearing, HSE enforcement lawyer Rebecca Schwartz said the men were fortunate to be alive.

“The risks of working at height and the necessary control measures are well established – in these cases adequate guardrails would have significantly reduced the risk of harm,” she said.

A BA spokesman said: “Safety is always our highest priority, and we deeply regret that despite the measures we had in place, these incidents occurred.”