Two firms fined after demolition workers severely hurt
Two firms have been fined for breaching health and safety legislation which resulted in the serious injury of two construction workers.
Two men, working for St Albans-based Environmental Reclamation (ERL), suffered multiple fractures and spinal injuries after falling through a fragile asbestos cement roof of a derelict barn during works in May 2006 to demolish and clear farm buildings at Church Farm in Oving, Buckinghamshire.
ERL received a total fine of £30,000, and was ordered to pay £21,360.11 costs for breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA) and regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
Clarks Construction Ltd (Clarks) of Luton, Bedfordshire, which acted as principal contractor for the project, was fined £7,500, and ordered to pay £9,388.64 in costs. Clarks had earlier pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the HSWA.
Health & Safety Executive inspector Norman Macritchie said: "Today's fines highlight the seriousness of this - entirely preventable - incident. Here, two employees, who were permitted to walk on the fragile roof of an unstable building, fell around four metres onto a concrete floor.”
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