Lotus Construction Limited of Otley, West Yorkshire, was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £1,143 and compensation totalling £500, for failing to provide an edge protection barrier to prevent the fall of a 17 year old sub-contractor working as a plasterer. The injured man, Richard Green, had only been working in construction for three months when he fell a distance of around 2.4 metres from first floor level.

In a hearing at Barnsley Magistrates' Court, the company pleaded guilty to charges laid by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) under Sections 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974* which alleged failure to provide a safe system of work on the project to build a two-storey extension at a motor vehicle repair centre in Barnsley.

HSE's investigating Inspector Mark Gough said: "Falling is the biggest cause of workplace fatalities. Last year, over 3,700 major injuries were recorded from falls at workplaces across the UK - 60 per cent of those injuries coming as a result of working at below head height.

"Yet falls are preventable when work is planned properly, the risks are accurately assessed, and the correct equipment is used. Contractors and sub contractors alike have a duty to ensure that this preparation is done and that methods of work are safe. Had this happened in this case the young man involved would have avoided injury.

"With 71 people killed in 2004/5 it has to be recognised that construction is a dangerous industry and all those working in it must take responsibility for improving its safety standards."

Health & Safety at Work Act
*Section 3(1) of the HSW Act 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".

The maximum fine in a Magistrates' Court under this charge is £20,000.

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Susie Hughes
The Editor © Hardhatter 2006