Building firm in court over life-threatening injuries

Posted: December 18, 2012

Posted in: Falls from Heights Head & Brain Injuries Spine & Back Injuries Workplace Injuries 

A building firm has appeared in court after a plumber suffered life-threatening injuries in a fall at an outdoor activities centre near Gwynfe in Carmarthenshire.

The 64-year-old man was working on the refurbishment of an accommodation block at the site when he fell three metres in March this year.

He lost consciousness and suffered a bleed to his brain, a fracture to his cheek bone, bruised ribs and further damage to his existing back condition. He now requires morphine for his back pain and has been unable to return to work.

The principal contractor overseeing the project was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following an investigation into the incident.

Carmarthen Magistrates’ Court was told that the company had arranged for the scaffolding to be removed from the site before the injured worker had finished fitting new waste pipes to the outside of the building.

He was given a scaffolding tower to use as an alternative way of completing the job, which was found to have been in a dangerous condition. It did not have all of the protective guardrails around the platform to prevent workers falling off the edge and he had to use an unsecured ladder leaning up against the tower to climb on and off it as there was no internal ladder access.

The latest figures show that 50 construction workers were killed while at work in Great Britain in 2010/11, and there were nearly 3,000 major injuries.

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