Surrey construction firm fined after floor collapse

A Surrey construction company has been fined after a worker narrowly escaped death in a fall of more than 4 m.

Bola Akinola suffered life-changing injuries, including multiple fractures to his pelvis, arm and leg, when steelwork supporting concrete floor planks failed at a site in Westerham, Kent, causing the material to collapse.

Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Landmark Groundworks had failed to follow established procedures designed to prevent this sort of incident from happening.

The company was fined £110,000 and ordered to pay £50,000 in costs after being found guilty of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.

John Underwood, an inspector at the regulator, said the building process must be actively managed to ensure subcontractors are given the correct information and use it.

"It was a matter of luck that the collapse of nearly nine tonnes of building material did not result in multiple fatalities," he added.

According to the latest HSE figures, 50 construction employees were killed at work in Britain in 2010-11.

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