GREATER Manchester Fire Service had been praised for its risk-assessment procedures prior to the death of a firefighter who drowned in a lodge while trying to save a teenage boy, a court was told.
Divisional officer Paul Argyle said that the Home Office had recommended Greater Manchester's methods to the UK's 50 other brigades, before the death of Paul Metcalf at Simon's Lodge, Holcombe Brook, Bury.
And he added that Government bosses had advocated the Greater Manchester model for carrying out risk-assessments because the service had "leapt ahead of the field".
Sub-officer Metcalf, aged 40, drowned on September 5, 1999, after entering the water with a rope attached around his waist while trying to save 15-year-old Reyaz Ali. The teenager also lost his life.
The Health and Safety Executive is prosecuting the Greater Manchester Fire and Civil Defence Authority at Bolton Crown Court, alleging it failed in its duty as an employer to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of its employees for operations in, on or near water.
The Greater Manchester Fire and Civil Defence Authority has denied the charge.
Proceeding
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