Building firm sentenced after worker breaks back in fall

Date:

13 June 2012

A building firm has been sentenced after a bricklayer broke his back when he fell through exposed floor joists at a site in Widnes.

Construction site where bricklayer fell through joists and broke his back

The 40-year-old man from Southport, who has asked not to be named, was working on a project to refurbish a corner shop and construct four one-bedroom houses when he fell three metres from the first to the ground floor.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the principal contractor for the project, Frank Rogers (Building Contractor) Ltd, following an investigation into the incident at Albert Road in Widnes on 3 May 2011.

Warrington Magistrates' Court heard that there was no internal staircase in the building, so workers had to climb up a ladder or through a window opening from scaffolding to access the first floor.

The bricklayer tripped as he stepped from the window onto a trestle on the floor, and fell between the exposed joists. He suffered a brief loss of consciousness and a broken back.

Frank Rogers (Building Contractors) Ltd pleaded guilty to a breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 by failing to make sure that sufficient measures were in place to prevent workers being injured in a fall.

The company, of Lark Hill Lane in Liverpool, was fined £13,500 and ordered to pay £7,509 in prosecution costs on 13 June 2012.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Dr Tom Baldwin said:

"Luckily the bricklayer has made a good recovery, but a fall of that distance could have resulted in him suffering permanent injuries or even being killed.

"Frank Rogers (Building Contractors) Ltd didn't consider the risks of workers being injured in a fall ahead of the work starting and, as a result, no measures were put in place to prevent falls.

"If the company had taken simple safety measures, such as covering the joists with wooden boards, then lives would not have been put at risk."

Nearly 3,000 people suffered a major injury while working in the construction industry in Great Britain in 2010/11, and 50 lost their lives. Information on construction safety is available at www.hse.gov.uk/construction.

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. Regulation 6(3) 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."
3. HSE news releases are available at www.hse.gov.uk/press

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