Bournemouth Magistrates’ Court heard how on 4th November 2014 GFT Frames Limited (GFT) was installing glazed units in a block of flats on a construction site in Bournemouth. Parsons & Joyce Contractors Limited (P&J) was the principal contractor.
GFT employee Darren Shepherd, aged 54, had been carrying window frames through the stairwell of the block of flats under construction. There were no stairs in place, just a ledge which was part of the structure that would act as a landing half way up the stairs once they were installed. After unloading all the frames, Mr Sheppard and a colleague were accessing the first floor, up through the void. As Mr Sheppard climbed onto the first floor from the ledge, he slipped, falling approximately 1.7 metres back to the landing and then a further 1.3 metres to the ground floor. He fractured two ribs and broke a thumb.
A Health & Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that GFT had failed to properly plan, supervise or carry out the work at height in a safe manner and that Parsons & Joyce had failed to plan and monitor the construction phase and failed to provide workers with a site induction.
GFT Frames Limited, of Vantage Way, Poole, Dorset, was fined £6,000, and ordered to pay £9,953 in costs after pleading guilty to an offence under Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
Parsons & Joyce Contractors Limited, of Ashley Road, Poole, Dorset, was fined £20,000, and also ordered to pay £9,953 in costs after pleading guilty to offences under Regulation 22(1)(a) and 22(2)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.
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