Demolition firm fined after worker receives severe head injuries

A demolition firm has been fined £5,000 at the Old Bailey (Monday) after a worker received severe head injuries at a building site on 5 February 2002.

The prosecution followed an investigation into an incident in which lorry driver Robert Pettigrove, of Watford, Herts, received serious head injuries after falling more than 6m from the edge of a floor slab in a partly demolished building.

Employed by a company based in Potters Bar, Pettigrove was on site to pick up pallets of reclaimed bricks. He survived the fall but has been unable to work since.

Lock Brothers (Plant Hire) of Erith, Kent, had been contracted to demolish a two-storey building at Willowbrook Road where the accident happened. On the day of the accident, sections of walls had been taken down leaving a slab at first floor level without any physical barrier to prevent anyone from falling over the open edge.

The company has been fined £5,000 before the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, in London and also ordered to pay £10,000 compensation to the victim, and costs of £2,450.

The company pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to a breach of Regulation 6 of The Construction (Health, Safety & Welfare) Regulations 1996, in that they failed to take suitable and sufficient steps to prevent any person, including the victim, from falling.

Neil Stevens, principle inspector at the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), said after the case: "This was an easily preventable accident. The risk to Mr Pettigrove was very clear and this sad incident was entirely avoidable."

He continued: "This case highlights that the construction industry must ensure it puts more effort into preventing falls from height. The risk of falling is well known in the industry, as are the measures needed to prevent falls."