Taylor Woodrow fined £200,000 for worker death

Taylor Woodrow has been fined £200,000 for the death of a man working on the Welsh Assembly’s debating chamber.

John Walsh was working for Ferson, a subcontractor on the site, when the cavity wall he was filling with concrete blew, throwing him backwards.

On the day of the incident, Walsh was on a ladder directing the hose of a concrete pump into the cavity. When the wall was pushed out by the weight of the concrete Walsh’s ladder was thrown backwards. As he fell to the ground he struck his head, suffering fatal injury.

Judge Neil Bidder QC, sitting at Cardiff Crown Court, said the foreman had “tragically and unnecessarily” lost his life on 15 March 2004.

He said both Taylor Woodrow and Ferson were aware of the danger of the wall blowing under the pressure of the concrete being placed in the cavity.

The judge added that Taylor Woodrow had failed to provide details for the safe construction of the wall, contributing to the “ad-hoc” way in which the inner and outer walls were joined.

A Taylor Woodrow supervisor had been on site for over 10 days while construction was taking place, but failed to notice that it was dangerous. The judge said the fact the supervisor lacked the experience to recognise the risk was a “very substantial failing”.

He added: “No-one seriously disputes it was an unsafe construction and Ferson must share the blame for that construction.”

However, the judge accepted the “genuine and heartfelt regret” of Taylor Woodrow’s senior management, and recognised its safety record since and the care it takes selecting the best subcontractors.

It has won the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents’ gold award for occupational safety in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Fining the company, the judge said: “A substantial penalty is necessary to bring home the need for ever present vigilance and to deter other companies from relaxing the highest level of safety.”

He also ordered that Taylor Woodrow pay £71,400 costs.