Kenneth Armitage landed on the kitchen floor below, in an incident his daughter Suzy said “should never have happened.”

The bathroom in Armitage’s house in Huntington, York was being converted into a wet room by construction company Cooper and Westgate.

The contractor had removed the room’s floorboards as it accessed pipework, but left an unguarded hole in the floor on 8 February 2019.

The 81-year-old later fell through the hole and was found dead by his son-in-law the following evening on 9 February.

An HSE investigation found Cooper and Westgate failed to adequately secure the hole as its employees were not properly trained. The company had also failed to undertake a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, nor a method statement for the work involved.

Armitage’s daughter, Suzy, said: “I can’t believe he has gone, I keep thinking it’s a horrible nightmare and I will wake up and he’ll be there. Our hearts were broken that day and may never heal. It should have never happened.

“We are all still struggling to come to terms with losing him.”

Cooper and Westgate Co. Ltd, of Wakefield, West Yorkshire was found guilty of safety breaches and fined £150,000 and ordered to pay £50,000 in costs at Leeds Magistrates’ Court this week.

HM inspector of health and safety Yolande Burns-Sleightholme, of HSE, said: “Employers need to fully assess and control the risks from work at height, caused by creating holes in domestic properties and recognise the importance of securing them effectively. They should then pass this knowledge on to their employees through suitable training and guidance.

“This incident could so easily have been avoided had Cooper & Westgate properly assessed the risks, put in place safe working practices and provided the correct training to its employees.”