Construction boss fined over risks to workers

Date:

3 April 2012

The director of a Cardiff construction firm has been fined for failing to take measures to ensure his workers' safety while working at height.

Paul Cartwright, of Llandaff, trading as Cartwright Construction, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) over safety failings at a building site off Conway Road, Pontcanna, Cardiff.

Cardiff Magistrates' Court heard that during a visit to the site on 28 September 2011, an HSE inspector observed two employees standing on the outer edge of a partially-completed first storey structure.

No edge protection was in place to prevent workers from falling outward from the beams or inwards through the partially-completed floor. There were also no scaffolds, bean bags or nets in place to offer protection.

HSE's investigation revealed the company did not have an on-site method statement for working at height and neither Mr Cartwright nor the site foreman had received adequate site manager safety training.

A Prohibition Notice was issued for work at height issues and an Improvement Notice was issued the next day for site manager safety training.

The court was told HSE had previously issued enforcement notices on Mr Cartwright's company in 2007 for work at height issues, and the company was warned at the time to look at its site manager safety training. Both Mr Cartwright and his site foreman had continued to work at the company without receiving this training.

Paul Cartwright, of Station Road, Llandaff North, Cardiff, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 6 (3) of the Work at Height Regulations 1995. He was today fined £4,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,027.

HSE inspector Simon Breen said:

"The dangers of working at height without adequate edge protection are very clear, yet companies and individuals continue to take risks and cut corners.

"Cartwright Construction was well aware of the precautions it should have taken but decided to ignore them. Falls from height are a major cause of workplace fatalities. This case should serve as a warning to others that if you work without the right equipment and put workers at risk, you will end up in court."

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk
2. Section 6 (3) of the Work at Height Regulations 1995 states: "Where work is carried out at height, every employer shall take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, any person falling a distance liable to cause personal injury."

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