Carpenter fractures skull in roof light fall

Grant Prior 10 years ago
Share

A Surrey carpentry specialist has been fined for safety failings after a worker fractured his skull when he fell through a roof light at a site in Cobham.

The 21-year-old, who does not wish to be named, fell on June 7 last year at a development on Oxshott Rise where a large detached home was being built.

Staines Magistrates’ Court heard that he was helping to build a flat roof with a number of roof light openings for Horley-based D&R Carpentry Ltd.

He fell through one of the openings and almost three metres to the ground below.

An HSE investigation found there was nothing in place to prevent or mitigate a fall, such as safety decking beneath the roof and openings, or a soft landing system.

Magistrates were told the company had previously been warned to consider the risks posed by falls from height by HSE following site inspections in January and February 2007 to a site in Hurst Green, East Sussex.

This resulted in written advice and a Prohibition Notice being served that required work to stop and immediate improvements to be made.

D&R Carpentry, of Horley was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £4,407 in costs plus a further £5,000 in compensation after pleading guilty to safety breaches.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Denis Bodger said: “Work at height is inherently fraught with risk, and falls remain the single biggest cause of deaths and serious injury in the construction industry.

“It is therefore essential that all work at height is properly assessed, managed and monitored to ensure it is carried out safely, and that all necessary precautions are taken to prevent falls and protect workers.

“There were clear failings by D&R Carpentry in this regard at the Cobham development, and an employee suffered serious injury as a result. He could easily have been killed or left with life-changing injuries.”

Latest news

Squibb confirms appeal against bid rigging fine

Demolition specialist joins Keltbray in appealing against CMA penalty
7 hours ago

Bigger projects help Wates hit record turnover

Size of average construction contract taken on hits £43m
10 hours ago

12 firms in fight to renew £1bn North West Construction Hub deal

Race starts for medium value building framework covering projects between £3m-£8m
10 hours ago

Former Inland Homes chief to invest £2.5m in cash raise

Cash-strapped developer hopes to raise £4.6m in share sale closing today
19 hours ago

Ten firms sign £3bn L&Q homes upgrade deal

15-year deal will include fire safety, energy retrofits, bathroom and kitchen upgrades
11 hours ago

Groundworks firm Conlon saves piling specialist

Work restarts on Abbey Pynford sites after acquisition
1 day ago

BAM Farrans JV installs Great Yarmouth bridge leaves: Video

Watch civil engineering feat in action as 770 tonne bridge leaves lowered into place
1 day ago

Gove invites Kingspan for talks on fire safety compensation

Insulation firm urged to pay for its part in cladding crisis after unveiling record profits
1 day ago

Galliford Try and Midgard bag 350 homes deal at Brent Cross

Galliford Try will build 249 BtR flats and Midgard 107 flats for sale
1 day ago

Sizewell C project gains key environmental permits

Waste permits allow client NNB Generation Company to move to site investigation and construction environmental approvals
1 day ago

Cost of Robertson school contract soars to £100m

Construction to start next month after cost jumps from original £60m
1 day ago

House building cost inflation eases as build out rates fall

Housing cost inflation expected to grow by 1.4% this quarter
1 day ago

Modular builder ilke Homes hires Deliveroo chief to drive profit push

David Scott charged with making business profitable
1 day ago

£500m Leeds South Bank scheme gets green light

Leeds City Council approves plan for 1,350 flats in mixed-use South Bank development
3 days ago

Galliford Try takes rebid £150m Carlisle Southern Link Road

Main construction works are due to start on 8km road in June
3 days ago

Arup takes stake in graphene-enhanced concrete venture

New concrete additive Concretene™ promises 30% savings in CO2 emissions
2 days ago

Winners revealed on £1.42bn materials framework

Thirteen builders merchants land places on huge procurement deal for social landlords
2 days ago

Travelodge eyes plans for another 300 hotels

Hotel giant writes to local councils offering partnership deals with a £3bn investment target
2 days ago

Balfour Beatty to invest £60m in pop-up EV chargers

New Urban Fox JV will roll out 35,000 charge points across the UK over the next decade.
3 days ago

Leading Channel Isles builder goes bust

Jersey-based construction firm Camerons placed in liquidation
2 days ago

HS2 Euston needs full design reset as costs set to double

Spending watchdog warns Euston stop-start delay will simply inflate already ballooning costs
4 days ago

Worker dies on major warehouse site in Stafford

Main contractor Glencar halts work while tragedy is investigated
3 days ago

Sellar switches London flats/hotel plan for 444 student rooms

Southwark's King’s Place scheme will comprise five buildings of up to 11 storeys
3 days ago

Bid race starts for Norfolk £30m Long Stratton Bypass

Council hopes to start work on 3.9km bypass in April 2024
3 days ago

GMI to build first warehouse at £200m Teesside business park

Work to start early next month on first shed at airport business park
3 days ago

Skanska Costain Strabag JV sets up own rebar plant

HS2 team now running on-site manufacturing facility to avoid supply chain issues
3 days ago

Bid rigging: Keltbray to appeal and so could Squibb

Both contractors "disappointed" with level of fines
6 days ago

Ten demolition firms fined £60m for bid rigging

Full details of fines with Erith and Keltbray hardest hit
1 week ago

Retail contractor J M Scully files administration notice

£23m turnover Dorset based contractor lodges court notice
6 days ago

Civils specialist M Lambe delivers record performance

Housing civils specialist seeks to diversify in face of challenging housing market
6 days ago

Contractor services