A property refurbishment company and a roofing contractor have been fined a combined £800,000 after a worker fell from scaffolding and suffered life-changing injuries.
The worker was contracted as a general labourer for Premier Property and Construction Limited on a project managed by Axis Europe Limited at Cathcart Hill, London on 15 April 2024.
During an unplanned lifting operation, the load became trapped. When the worker attempted to free it, the released load caused him to be pulled over the edge of the scaffold.
An HSE investigation found that Premier Property and Construction Limited failed to adequately plan, manage and monitor the work, particularly regarding routine lifting operations and the use of appropriate lifting equipment and accessories.
HSE also found that Axis Europe Limited failed to properly manage and monitor the works being carried out by Premier Property and Construction Limited on its site. The principal contractor did not recognise insufficient detail on lifting operations and did not adequately challenge or prevent the use of untested lifting accessories on site.
Axis Europe Limited, of London, pleaded guilty to safety breaches and was fined £640,000 and ordered to pay £4787.59 in costs and a £2000 victim surcharge at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court.
Premier Property and Construction Limited, of Sevenoaks, Kent also pleaded guilty and was fined £160,000 and ordered to pay £4787.59 in costs and a £2000 victim surcharge.
Following the hearing HSE inspector, Andrew Pipe, said: “Every year, a significant proportion of construction-related accidents, many of them serious and sometimes fatal, occur as a result of inadequately planned, managed or monitored work.
“This was a wholly avoidable incident. Had both companies taken appropriate measures to ensure workers’ health and safety, the life-changing injuries would not have occurred.”
“The fines imposed on Axis Europe Limited and Premier Property and Construction Limited should underline to everyone in the construction industry that the courts, and HSE, take failures to follow the regulations extremely seriously.”
