Laing O'Rourke fined £80,000 over worker fall

Laing O'Rourke Construction has been fined £80,000 and ordered to pay £10,000 costs following an injury to one of its workers at the £1bn Liverpool One regeneration scheme two years ago.

Employee William Taylor fell three metres during the construction of concrete stairs inside one of the main apartment blocks on the development in August 2007.

He sustained multiple head injuries and only just escaped falling three floors to the base of the building.

The contractor was prosecuted today at Liverpool Crown Court after pleading guilty to a charge brought under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 at an earlier hearing at Liverpool Magistrates Court.

HSE inspector Nic Rigby said: "This prosecution should act as a warning to all those involved in the management of construction work. It was down to chance alone that this incident did not result in a fatality. That risk would have been avoided had the planning and management of the work being carried out not been so deficient.

"The accident occurred because the company failed to make adequate risk assessments and plan a safe system of work. This accident happened on the 3rd floor of the building.

"Had the accident not occurred this same system of work would have been repeated on every one of the 12 floors of the building. A fall from that height would clearly have had much more serious consequences."