An employee of a construction company experiences serious injury at work.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website features another incident of a serious injury at work in their May 2019 press release.
The incident happened on 2 May 2017, in Louth, Lincolnshire. A Foundations and Buildings Ltd’s employee was constructing the roof of a new agricultural building, which was next to an already existing barn. Whilst working, the employee stepped onto the roof of an adjacent barn and fell five meters through the frail roof onto the concrete floor. The fall broke his back and left him seriously injured.
The Health and Safety Executive launched an investigation into the accident. The investigation showed that the company had an inadequate system of work in use to control risks associated with working at height. The system functioned upon employees wearing harnesses, rather than using a more suitable methods such as nets or edge protection. Additionally, despite the company providing the harnesses, wearing them was not enforced.
The Lincolnshire construction company pleaded guilty in Boston Magistrates’ Court to breaching Regulation 4 (1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. They were fined £30,000 and will also pay £4,814.04 of costs.
The employers are largely responsible for the safety of their workers, that includes providing information, instruction and training of working safely. This incident is a good example of what happens when a company does not take the safety of their employees seriously enough.
Having a suitable safe system of work can drastically lower the risk of an accident at work, but not all employers provide it. According to the Labour Force Survey, in Great Britain in 2017/2018 there were 555,000 work related injuries. There were also 71,062 injuries reported under RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013)
If you have experienced an accident at work, you are entitled to compensation. Call our team on 0151 306 3694 or fill out the claim form on our website. We will contact you as soon as possible.
Our firm operates on no win, no fee bases, with no financial risk to you. We provide experienced medical experts and rehabilitation anywhere in the country at a time that suits you, so that we can help you on your way to recovery. You are also guaranteed to receive 100% of your compensation to help you get back on your feet.
You can access more information by visiting our Serious Injury page here.