A Northumberland-based firm has been fined £50,000 after a worker fractured a vertebra and sustained a head injury…
Northumberland-based firm Oakland Homes (North East) has been fined for safety failings after an employee sustained injuries on site.
The case, which was brought before Northumberland Magistrates’ Court, revealed how a joiner working under the control of Oakland Homes (North East) as the principal contractor was hurt during a fall.
Scaffolding on site had been altered by workers who did not have the correct training to do so. This left the structure “without adequate edge protection” to prevent a fall.
The joiner was fitting a weather vane to a roof, an activity that had not been planned, when he fell backwards from the scaffold onto the ground below.
As a result of the fall he suffered a fractured vertebra and a large cut to his head.
The incident was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which revealed Oakland Homes (North East) had failed to plan, manage, and monitor the installation of the weather vane.
As a result the firm was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay costs of £800 after pleading guilty to breaching Regulations 13(1) the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015.