Demolition firm and director pay £26,000 after electrician breaks pelvis

Magistrates have ordered a demolition company and one of its directors to pay a total of more than £26,000 after an electrician broke his pelvis in a 5m fall.

Woolridge Ecotec of Bagshot, Surrey, was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £4,971 costs after pleading guilty to breaching health and safety regulations.

Meanwhile Nicholas Anderson, one of the company's directors, was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £1,657 costs after he also pleaded guilty to breaching the regulations.

The fines follow an accident in March 2005 which saw electrician Barry Murrell fall 5m when he stepped on some steel sheet material that covered a hole during a demolition job at the former Pirelli Cables factory in Erith.

He broke his pelvis, fractured his right hip, shattered a hip socket and broke a rib.

HSE inspector Lorain Charles commented: "Mr Murrell's injuries were very serious but the consequences could have been far worse. The risks of falls from height on this demolition project and the measures needed to control those risks had been identified on more than one occasion.

"The director, Mr Anderson had personal knowledge of the circumstances surrounding or leading to this accident and he failed to take obvious steps to prevent it."