Legal News
Company and director prosecuted after construction worker suffers life changing injuries (24 March 2017)
Date: 24/03/2017
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted a Manchester-based building contractor and a company owner, after a worker was seriously injured on a building site.
When the incident occurred on 29 August 2014, the 53-year-old father of two from Salford was employed as a labourer on site at a refurbishment project at Manchester One, Portland Street in Manchester.
The principal contractor for the project was Workspace Design and Build Ltd, which was prosecuted for serious safety failings – along with the former director of Access Flooring Specialist Ltd, Paul Harrison.
Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard how two operatives working for Access Flooring Specialist Ltd had started the demolition of a freestanding concrete block wall on the site, using a demolition hammer.
The court was told how one worker started to cut into the wall just above the halfway point, when the second worker took over and continued from the top, using stepladders for access. However, as he did so, the top half of the wall collapsed, knocking him from the ladder and landing on top of him.
The injured worker sustained fractures to his neck and back – and spent three months in hospital following the incident. He has since been unable to return to work.
The HSE investigation found there was no suitable risk assessment in place for the work that was being carried out – and the workers had not been provided with suitable work instructions for carrying out the task safely.
In addition to this, no checks had been made regarding the injured worker’s training or experience, he was not provided with a site induction or adequate PPE for the task – and the work on site was not being supervised.
At Manchester Magistrates’ Court, Workspace Design and Build Ltd – of Manchester One, Portland Street in Manchester – pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 22(1)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.
The company was fined £14,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,972.
Paul Harrison of Kirkfell Drive, Tyldsley in Manchester pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 37 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, relating to his company’s breach of Regulation 13 (2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. He was fined £1,300 and ordered to pay costs of £2,851.
After the hearing, HSE Inspector Laura Moran said:
“The risks associated with the demolition of the internal walls at Manchester One were not properly considered – and, as a result, there was no safe system of work in place for the operatives to follow.
“Together with a lack of adequate supervision, these failings resulted in one man suffering serious and life changing injuries, which could have been prevented had the work been properly planned and managed.”
Duncan Lewis Personal Injury Solicitors
Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors can offer legal advice to construction workers who have been injured on construction sites as a result of negligence and who wish to make a claim for compensation, including claims relating to:
Duncan Lewis also offers supportive legal advice to bereaved families whose loved one has lost their life in a construction accident caused by negligence – or in cases involving claimants wishing to make late-stage industrial disease diagnosis claims.
Our specialist claims solicitors can also advise in cases where an employer may no longer be trading.
For expert legal advice on no win no fee Construction Worker Injury Claims, call Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors on 0333 772 0409.