A building site manager has been convicted of manslaughter after a construction worker was killed in 2015…
Faruk Patel, a building site manager, has been convicted of manslaughter after a construction worker died on site.
Patel was convicted due to his disregard for safety after the worker fell through a skylight aperture. The fall was from the first floor and caused significant head injuries to the 40-year-old man. He was taken to the Leicester Royal Infirmary before being transferred to the Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham.
Patel was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence. He also pleaded guilty to three health and safety offences in December last year.
At sentencing, Honourable Mr Justice Saunders said: “The defendant paid no regard to health and safety whatsoever. It is clear to me the defendant had no idea of the responsibility he had for maintaining safety on the site.
“There was a high risk of a fall onto the concrete floor. The risk of death or serious injury was high.”
Patel was sentenced to two years and six months in prison for manslaughter due to gross negligence. He also sentenced to eight months for the health and safety offence.
The investigation, which was undertaken jointly between Leicestershire Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found Patel was the manager on the building site and had asked the worker to fit the window. However, no scaffolding was provided in the area and there were no safe methods of transferring the window up to the first floor. Access was via a “broken untethered ladder”.
After the prosecution was concluded Leicester Police said: “The investigation revealed that scaffolding outside the building was constructed haphazardly.
“It was not fitted with appropriate walkways but just a few unsecure planks of wood. Nobody on site was wearing any personal protective equipment, there were no warning signs anywhere and no qualified first aider on site.”
The police added: “We hope this conviction helps the family to come to terms with what happened. We also hope this case acts as a deterrent to others in the building trade and ensures they think about the health and safety of their workers at all times.”
HSE Inspector Sarah Hill said: “We identified several areas around the St Saviours Hill site where falls could occur, and where workers were at risk of being seriously injured or killed as a result.
“No health and safety precautions had been taken in relation to health and safety on this site. Faruk Patel continued to put workers lives at risk even after a fatal accident on the site.
“The difference between where Faruk Patel was in relation to his legal obligations and where he should have been created extreme risk. He fell far short of what the law required and put lives at risk.”