Man's life shattered by builder's safety breach

Date:

2 April 2012

Release No:

YH/63/12

A Sheffield man is lucky to be alive after suffering multiple injuries in a three metre fall down a flight of stairs at his home.

Michael Hall fell from the top of a new staircase that had been left without a handrail by a local builder during refurbishment work at his home in Dobcroft Road.

Sheffield Magistrates' Court heard today (2 April) that Mr Hall's injuries were life-threatening. He suffered a broken spine, massive head injuries and several broken ribs in the incident on 23 June 2010. He was in intensive care and spent several months in hospital undergoing numerous operations.

Mr Hall, who ran his own car business, has had to learn to walk again and talk properly again after a tracheotomy affected his speech. He still suffers balance problems but has made around a 90 per cent recovery.

The builder working on the refurbishment, Robin Atherton, trading as Mack Construction, reported the incident to HSE - a legal obligation - which investigated and brought the prosecution.

Mr Atherton, of Jordanthorpe View, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 for safety failings. He was fined £5,000 with costs of £4,000.

Inspector Medani Close, who carried out the investigation, said the case had been a whisker away from being a fatality.

"Mr Hall was lucky to survive the devastating injuries he sustained in this fall. But his life was shattered and it also had a huge impact on his wife, Sally, and his business.

"However this tragic fall could so easily have been avoided. The simplest of measures, a temporary handrail fitted to the open side of the new staircase in his home, could have prevented his fall and saved a huge amount of suffering.

"It is a vivid and sad reminder that unnecessary risks are taken far too often in construction, one of the most dangerous sectors of industry."

The most common kinds of accident involve slipping or tripping (40%) and falls from height (16%). HSE figures for 2010/11 show there were 38 deaths, 4,327 major injuries and a further 5,867 over-three-day injuries because of a fall from height. More information on preventing falls at work is available at www.hse.gov.uk/falls

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 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.

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