An engineering firm has been fined after an employee working at an HS2 construction site fell and fractured multiple parts of his body, after a gap was left in a raised walkway. The mechanical engineer suffered a fractured skull, hip, jaw and pelvis, while working at an HS2 site in Chalfont Lane, West Hyde, Hertfordshire.
The employee of EMC Elite Engineering Services Ltd had been repairing a conveyor at the site when he fell 11 metres on November 20, 2022. Stair treads had been removed in the conveyor’s stairway to ensure it could be supported by a crane during the reparation work, resulting in a gap in the stairway.
The man, who was 57 at the time, fell through this gap and landed on the concrete floor below, sustaining a fractured pelvis, skull, hip, jaw and two broken wrists. He spent two months in hospital following the incident, undergoing surgery requiring him to have six plates inserted into his face.
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A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that EMC Elite Engineering Services Ltd failed to ensure the work at height was properly planned, appropriately supervised, and carried out in a manner that was as safe as reasonably practicable.
The worker said in his victim personal statement: “The injuries I sustained have had a massive impact on my life and some of these will be permanent. The impact on my family relationships has been massive. My wife has become my carer.
“My own behaviours have changed. I am quicker to anger and get easily frustrated. I get very impatient too. My focus has been affected and I struggle to keep up with a task or maintain a conversation.”
EMC Elite Engineering Services Ltd, of Heronsgate Trading Estate, Paycocke Road, Basildon, Essex pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company was fined £52,500 and ordered to pay £6,871.12 in costs at St Albans Magistrates’ Court on July 15, 2024.
HSE inspector Martin Paren said: “This incident led to an employee suffering multiple injuries that will affect him for the rest of his life. If his employer had properly planned, instructed and supervised the work then this incident could have easily been prevented.”
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