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A company in Pontcanna, Cardiff has been fined following an incident that took place in July 2015.


A contractor, who specialised in drilling, had been hired by Jehu Project Services Ltd to work on the refurbishment of a 73-bedroom care home. Stephen Harrison had been working on a tower scaffold, then stepped onto the ground floor. As he stepped down, he stood on a concrete block that was loose, causing him to stumble into a lift pit basement that was under construction. As he fell, he landed head first into a skip on the lower floor, which was full of rubble.

The contractor was stabilised by a specialist fire and rescue team, who were in the local area, before being hoisted out of the pit using the tower crane hook. The crane lifted him over the construction site and into a car park, where an ambulance was waiting to take him to hospital. Harrison suffered five broken ribs, shattered vertebrae and a punctured lung, having to spend 18 days in hospital. Although he is not paralysed, he is still in recovery and will not be able to return to work.

An investigation was conducted by the Health and Safety Executive, discovering that there had been a lack of supervision on the site, lack of risk management for working at height, and no Temporary Works Management System. The company was fined £143,000 and had to pay full costs of £15,029.30.

 

According to Liam Osborne, the health and safety inspector, the company had been warned previously, but is now putting a range of measures in place. Among those changes may be the use of PPE and other safety initiatives.

 

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