Directors knew workers used damaged board as ladder

摘要

The director of a company and a self-employed contractor have received suspended prison sentences after an electrician fell two storeys through an unprotected stairwell. On 1 December 2016, the electrician, Mr T Quirk, was carrying out electrical work at Mile House in Worleston near Nantwich, Cheshire. The property was owned and being refurbished by Steven Dixon, a self-employed contractor. As Mr Quirk was leaving the loft, he fell from a damaged Youngman Board that spanned the stairwell. He fell onto the concrete floor, sustaining multiple fractures, a bleed on the brain and facial nerve damage. The HSE found that two directors of Green Generation Renewable Services - Karl Grice and Sean Mullan - were aware, along with Mr Dixon, that the damaged board was being used as a makeshift ladder and indeed had used it themselves. They were also aware of the unprotected edges of the stairwell, but had not carried out risk assessments or identified and implemented suitable control measures to protect workers on site. Green Generation Renewable Services admitted breaching reg. 15(2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, which requires a contractor to plan, manage and monitor construction work to ensure that it is carried out safely. On 31 May at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court, it was fined ￡20,000 and ordered to pay costs of ￡2,548. As a micro company, it has a full reporting exemption at Companies House, so there are no turnover and profit or loss figures available.